


Absentis

by AutumnBlueWylde



Series: The Crossover Chronicles [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-05-18 14:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19336690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnBlueWylde/pseuds/AutumnBlueWylde
Summary: When members of Fairy Tail go missing, Team Natsu is forced to work alongside old enemies in order to find them and bring them home.Can Lucy get over past trauma in order to save her friends?





	1. Baby Spice.

Crime Sorciere had only been in the hall for half an hour. Jelall needed to talk to Master Makarov about an upcoming mission, and the possibility of borrowing a few of Fairy Tail's stronger members. Which meant he left the other members downstairs. Tucked into a dingy corner, keeping to themselves.

Lucy couldn't stand it. Yeah, maybe they were reformed, it didn't change the fact they'd tried to kill her. Twice. And not just her, either. Just them being in the guildhall was creeping her out. It didn't help that, even though the hall was packed, it was quiet. It was weird. Like Crime Sorciere's mere presence had sucked out the usually rowdy atmosphere.  
Lucy looked lazily around the vast hall, Natsu and Happy sat eating with Gray and Juvia. Elfman was quietly going over mission plans with Lisanna, Evergreen and Freed. Even Macao and Wakaba were quiet.

"This isn't like you, Lucy." Mirajane frowned from behind the bar as Lucy turned back to face her.

She was right, it wasn't. Lucy was always optimistic. Nauseatingly so. She had room in her heart for everyone. Gajeel beat the snot out of her, and they were now close friends. There was the stand off with the Raijinshuu and she'd forgiven them. Hell, she'd even dated Bickslow for a while.

But she just couldn't get past them trying to shove her in a damn clock. Or the way Angel treated her spirits. It was just wrong. She huffed and crossed her arms along the bar infront of her. The only one who didn't creep her out entirely was Hoteye. Richard. Relearning their names was going to be weird.

Lucy huffed a breath over the bar and ordered another smoothie, before confiding in Mira.

"I don't know, I'm just," Lucy flapped her hand, searching for a way to explain how she felt. "Frustrated? I think. With them being here."

"Hm." Mira mused. "I get it. It's not easy to get past what they've done. But if Master can see past that, then I don't see a problem with it." The barmaid smiled sadly at Lucy before adding, "But I guess with you being the main target in their last scheme, it will be harder for you."

"You're not wrong about that," Lucy muttered looking down at the bar, "I'm sure I'll get over it."

A smash at the other end of the bar jolted Lucy and Mira from their melancholy exchange, Kinana had dropped a tray of glasses. And it was though a spell had been broken. Cheers and laughter erupted up the length of the guildhall like a musical mexican wave.

Even Cobra's mouth contorted into an amused smirk, while Angel was holding her ribs.

When the whoops and clapping settled down, Lucy realised the tense atmosphere had dissolved. Natsu belched flames across the table, singeing Gray, causing a fight.

"What the hell sulfur breath?!" Gray yelled, shooting up from the bench. He was stripped before his feet even hit the floor, hands poised for his ice lance.

"Obviously." Lucy snorted ducking as a table flew past her head, shattering against the wall behind Mira.

"Not again." Mira sighed.

Lucy was finding it mildly amusing, until someone bumped Erza, causing her to drop her cake. Her anger was palpable, even from across the guild hall. Lucy decided it wasn't worth getting caught in the crossfire and ducked out of the back door. She huffed out a relieved breath and turned to walk home, but walked straight into someone.

"Sorry!" She yelped, looking straight up into the unsmiling face of Cobra. "Oh," she frowned. "It's you."

Cobra barked a laugh as Lucy made to walk around him. Extinguishing his cigarette against the wall, his arm blocked her path. Lucy scowled at him, crossing her arms in bored impatience.

"What?" She sneered at him.

Cobra lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Woah, baby spice, calm down."

"When has telling a woman to 'calm down' ever worked?" Lucy retorted, tapping her foot.

Cobra thought back on the amount of times he'd said it to Angel, purely to bait her into a fight. He looked back to Lucy to see her waiting, eyebrow raised, clearly unimpressed.

"Fair point." He shrugged.

"What do you want?" Lucy ground out through gritted teeth. _I want to get out of here before Erza comes screaming out of there and rips my effing face off for bailing._

Cobra half smiled, lazily, at Lucy, and leaned back against the wall. "Nothing, actually. You're just easy to wind up."

"Ugh, whatever. Why are you even out here? I thought you'd definitely be in the middle of all that," She gestured wildly in the direction of screeching and glasses smashing behind the door she tried to sneak out of.

"Absolutely not." He said. "Titania scares the shit out of me." Cobra whispered, then cackled at Lucy's shocked face.

"Cobra!" A woman shouted, "We're going!" Angel rounded the corner. "Are you smoking?"

"Smoking hot." He purred, laughing as he dodged the beer mat Angel chucked at his face.

"Jelall will murder you. And I'm not sitting through yet another lecture from Richard." Angel scolded, coming to a stop next to him, in front of Lucy. Cobra just rolled his eye and stalked off back towards the front of the guild hall. Angel looked Lucy up and down, her face expressionless and completely unreadable, before following her team mate.

Lucy couldn't be more thankful to her adrenal system for not just shutting her down in the face of the guy who haunted her nightmares. Her heart was hammering so hard, her ribs were vibrating. She took a shaky breath, and managed to contain her tears until she got home.


	2. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Members of the guild gather to find out what's happened, and how they can help.

"It's 3am Natsu. This had better be good." Lucy yelled as she walked towards the door, Natsu was stood the other side, shouting to be let in. Normally, he'd of climbed through the window or been here when she got home, but she'd finally installed proper locks on her door and windows. She was hoping for a full nights sleep with no disturbances from her team mates, but apparently her expectations were too high. She unlocked the door and fell onto her sofa, waiting for the explanation.

After telling her what had him so impatiently hammering on her door, she was dressed and halfway to the guildhall before Natsu could even blink.

Someone was missing, but he didn't know who.

The commotion was even wilder than the fight that had broken out the previous afternoon, but now it was sheer panic. Macao was pacing, hard, with Wakaba trying to calm him down. Erza was trying to formulate a plan, based on the very little information she had. Carla was being comforted by both Happy and Pantherlily while Gajeel, Gray and Juvia talked both seriously and animatedly. Despite the fact there were far less people here now, it was just as noisy and hectic as ever.

"Listen up!" Makarov shouted from the stage area of the guild hall. "We can't create city wide panic, that's why we've called you all in now." The room was suddenly silent. Every member gathered was listening intently. Waiting to be told what they could do.

"Master," Erza stood as she spoke, "What exactly is happening? Gray told me someone has gone missing, but no more."

"That's all I got told." Gray offered.

"Who has disappeared, Master?" Lucy questioned, fully awake and alert now.

Murmuring amongst the members turned quickly into full blown conversation again, leaving Makarov with no choice but to yell over them again. "Quiet!" He roared, using his magic to enhance his voice. "It's Wendy," everyone gasped, "And Romeo." Silence filled the hall. The fear and despair from Macao and Carla was tangible. How had Lucy not noticed? Macao never let Romeo leave his sight, especially after what happened with the Dragon King Festival. And Wendy was never far from Carla.

Panic was an interesting thing. In a desperate attempt to figure out what was going on, they had all missed what was right in front of them. Macao's water lined eyes, Carla's inability to speak. Lucy felt stupid. No wonder they didn't want news of this spreading. Missing children? It would be chaos.

"This is actually part of the reason Crime Sorciere were here." Makarov explained to the still stunned into silence hall, "Children, wizards especially, have been going missing all of the country. Most recently in Clover. Jelall thought it stood to reason that Magnolia would be targeted next. He had hoped to set up some kind of protection before anything happened, but," Lucy had never seen their master look so sad, "we were too late." Still, no one was able to speak, Makarov continued, "So far, no one else has been reported missing. Racer and Warren will be setting up a security plan with Jelall to keep everyone else in the town safe."

 

"But what about Romeo and Wendy?!" Natsu cried.

"I was getting to that," Makarov's patience for Natsu still stunned Lucy, she wanted to strangle him for his inability to wait. "Jelall had already asked for the assistance of your team, Natsu. Along with Gajeel and Juvia. And now the six of you will be working with the rest of Crime Sorciere to find and rescue the children."

Lucy didn't like the sound of that, working in close proximity with the people who actively tried to kill her and her team mates on more than one occasion set her teeth on edge and made her stomach turn. She barely registered everyone snapping into action, someone reassuring Macao that his boy would be okay, someone else doing the same for Carla. And it wasn't until she was outside that she realised Natsu was guiding her back home.

Fat hot tears slid down her cheeks when she finally sat on her sofa. Natsu and Happy silently made her hot chocolate while she gathered her thoughts.  
This was going to be difficult. But Lucy would have to push past it. Natsu pressed a warm cup into her hands and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders before perching on the coffee table in front of his best friend.

"Luce?" Natsu was worried, he hadn't seen her this checked out in a long time. She was staring right through him. He frowned, then sat next to her, taking the mug from her again, and setting it down. "It'll be okay." He said softly, pulling her into a hug. "We'll find them." Natsu stroked her hair, murmuring reassurances until she fell asleep.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

At some point, Natsu must have carried Lucy to her bed, because that's where she woke up, still fully dressed, still wrapped in the pink fuzzy blanket he'd draped on her the night before. After showering and, by some miracle, waking Natsu and Happy from their deep slumber on her sofa, they made their way back to the guildhall for an update.

Crime Sorciere were already there by the time they arrived. Boredom and impudence radiated from all but Richard as they waited for Team Natsu to be caught up.

Jellal was talking Makarov, Gray and Erza through information he'd gathered in other towns from similar cases. He was hoping that by Fairy Tail being involved, cold cases could be solved and children returned to their families. Gajeel and Juvia arrived shortly after Natsu and Lucy, causing Jellal to have to go through everything from the top.

"The only difference in this case is that it was guild mages that were taken." Jellal frowned inwardly as he explained.

"Whoever it was has made a mistake messing with Fairy Tail." Natsu practically growled, jumping to his feet, fists already flaming. But he was shoved back into his seat, one hand on his shoulder.

"Cool it, coal for brains." Cobra snarled at him. He and the rest of their guild had joined them now that the whole team was present.

"Jellal?" Lucy spoke quietly, but the blue haired mage looked at her paling face and nodded. "Can I talk to you?" She asked, gesturing away from the group.

She had to resist looking over her shoulder, knowing Natsu was probably confused, but she was struggling with the former Oracion Seis being so close. Lucy said as much to Jellal.  
"I understand your trepidation, Lucy." Jellal really did seem understanding, and concerned. "And I would get it completely if you wanted to sit this out," he frowned again, "but I really think your skills would be beneficial to this mission."

Lucy knew she was stronger. Her training during Fairy Tail's hiatus meant she had access to new and better magical abilities, not to mention her physical strength and stamina being at an all time high thanks to working with Leo and Taurus, but all of that didn't matter when just the sight of a handful of people reduced her to a quivering heap of nerves and nausea.

"I know your history with some of the members of my guild," he nodded back to the table where they looked to be discussing strategy, as Lucy allowed herself a glance. She couldn't understand how most of them looked so disinterested. Based on what she had gleaned about their past, the nature of this mission should hit close to home for the former Oracion Seis. But Cobra, Angel and Midnight especially, all seemed as thought they couldn't care less. "But let me assure you," Jellal continued, pulling Lucy out of her thoughts, "They are reformed. For over a year now, they have been working hard to be better people."

"I know that." Lucy said, softly, "I don't want to sit out. I want to get Wendy and Romeo back." Her voice was full of determination, and once again, she was grateful to her body for not outwardly betraying how she truly felt.


	3. The Unforgiven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team head to Clover to get some information.

Fear. Even if he couldn't hear it with his magic, Cobra's heightened sense of smell picked up on it as soon as he walked over to put salamander back in in his seat. Before he'd even gotten comfy in his chair, Lucy had dragged Jellal off, no doubt to bitch about this whole situation. She exuded terror. 

He was watching as Erza laid out a plan of action but was listening to Lucy and Jellal.

 _"... in a clock. How am I supposed to just get over that? It's one thing when they're just visiting with you, but I have to_ work _with them?"  
"I understand your trepidation..."_

He fought to hold in his smug smirk, maintaining his bored façade. She was smart to be wary. Not being even slightly cautious of a group of people who tried to kill (and successfully maimed) you and your friends, would be downright moronic.

Still, he figured he should probably talk to her if they were going to be working together. He approached as their conversation ended, trying to keep his face neutral, rather than show his amusement at her obvious anxiety. Some things will never change, and his love of the sound of souls in distress is one of those things.

And it was harder still not to outright laugh when she jumped as she turned and saw him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy managed not to yelp, but couldn't hide the fact that she did jolt when she realised Cobra was stood behind her. Heat crept up her neck and ears, and she was sure that it was accompanied by a telling blush. She self consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before nodding at Jellal that it was okay for him to go, she'd be fine. She had to be.  
Crossing her arms, Lucy looked at Cobra.

"What?" She didn't mean to sound rude, just assertive. Lucy didn't want this guy to know she was scared of him.

"I already know." He looked down at her, not quite scowling, but it definitely didn't radiate 'friendly and inviting.'

Lucy's mouth flapped as she struggled to reply.

"Soul listening magic, remember? Jeez," He sucked his teeth, "It's like you don't even remember me."

Oh, Lucy remembered. Remembered how Natsu turned his greatest strength into his biggest weakness with Cobra's own magic.

"Hey! The human campfire got lucky." Cobra growled. If Lucy didn't know any better, she'd say he was sulking, but as soon as she thought that, his cocky half grin returned.

"What do you want, Cobra?" Lucy tried to reflect his bored demeanour.

Cobra sighed, rubbing his temples. "Look, we have to work together. Can we just get past this whole 'we tried to sacrifice you to a clock' bullshit and awkwardness and get on with it?"

Lucy couldn't help bursting into laughter. Tears streamed down her face, and she doubled over holding her sides. 

It was near impossible to surprise Cobra, however, this left him dumbfounded. Several members of both guilds had stopped what they were doing to look at them. But she quickly righted herself, staring Cobra in the eye, she simply said, "No."

"Wh-"

"No. We can't just 'get past it.'" Her fear had dissipated. This whole situation was ridiculous. A guy who was not only completely capable of killing her, but had actually tried, was stood here trying to get her to get over his and his friends attempts. "You haven't even apologised." Hands on her hips, she was gaining confidence as she spoke.

Something shifted in her, Cobra could sense it. This chick was serious. She wanted him to apologise. She wasn't scared any more. But he couldn't put his finger on why. Her soul was conflicted in about 8 different ways. This was both hilarious and daunting to her, but she mostly felt relief, and catharsis.

"Sorry." He shrugged.

"That was pathetic." She smiled. Before he could respond, she span on her heel and practically skipped away.

"Oh man, your face." Angel sidled up to Cobra's side, the slightest twitch revealing that he didn't notice her approach.

"What the hell." Cobra muttered to himself.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Erza had decided the best course of action was to question the other missing children's parents, after speaking to Carla and finding out that Wendy and Romeo had argued in South Gate Park before vanishing, quite literally, into thin air.

"I can't even remember what the cause was. Just that they both said 'I wish you would just go away' at the same time." She revealed that the two of them stormed off in different directions. Carla was too stunned to follow Wendy straight away, but the second she turned to make sure she was okay, the little sky dragon slayer was gone. "It was an open area, I should have been able to see her, and Romeo, but when I turned back to him, he was gone too!" She wailed.

Jellal booked them tickets for the first train to Clover, and they were on their way.

Cobra hated Jellal on a good day, but the blue haired prick making him get on a train was nothing short of sadistic and made him regret the fact he was trying to be better. It was bad enough how shitty he felt, but seeing salamander and black steel suffering made it harder for him to conceal his queasiness.

He was just thankful Clover wasn't that far away.

A quiet, tinny beat pulsing somewhere to his left tore him from his inner pity party and had him looking to find the source. Lucy had headphones in. Given that both Natsu and Gajeel were whining, Juvia and Gray were being weird with each other, same as Titania and Jellal. Angel and Hoteye were playing go fish or something equally stupid. Midnight was out for the count, obviously. But Lucy had her nose buried in a book, feet kicked up on the bench in front of her. She wasn't even in the same universe as these guys.

Her head bobbed in time with the beat as her eyes skimmed the pages in front of her. He watched as she stuffed an entire oreo in her mouth. Even the thought of food made him balk. He turned away, leaning his head on the cool window, and closed his eye.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Once they arrived, Erza had decided Lucy would be the best person to talk to the parents.

"Your pleasant demeanour and friendly smile make you the most qualified." Erza beamed, "Not to mention, you're easily the most empathetic person here."

"I'll try not to be offended." Cobra sniggered.

Angel smacked his arm. "Shut up." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Next to him, she looked small and delicate. But Lucy was all too aware she was anything but. Still, she was a far cry from the evil girl she faced in that river all those years ago.

Erza ignored the exchange and looked at Lucy expectantly.

"I guess I'll go talk to them then." She shrugged.

"I'll go with her." Gray piped up, thunder crossing Juvia's face as he did.

"Excellent." Erza clapped her hands, passing notes to Gray with addresses and names on.

Lucy intercepted it before Gray could grab it. "There's only two names here?" She said, studying the page.

"Yes," Jellal explained, "It's the same all across Fiore. One girl and one boy in every town or village."

"Perplexing to say the least," Erza conceded, solemnly, "We'll get set up in the hotel. We'll meet you back here in a few hours?"

Lucy and Gray agreed and set off.

The first house turned out to be only a short walk from where they were staying, once inside, the young girl's mother told them what happened.

"Poppy and her older sister, Lilly, were out with their friends, playing in the woods. Lilly heard Poppy yelling at Alexander," her voice caught, he was the boy who was missing, "something about wanting him to go away, and he said 'no, you go away!'" The mother was crying.

Lucy put her hand on the woman's arm, "I'm sorry, ma'am. What happened next?"

"Lilly looked away for a second," her voice hitched again, "then when she looked back, Poppy was gone!" She sobbed.

"We're going to do everything we can to get your daughter back." Gray assured the weeping woman. Lucy hugged her, agreeing, and before long, they were on their way to the next house.

Their story corroborated what they had already been told, but they knew they had to get as many facts from every angle possible.

Back at the hotel, they passed the information on to Erza and Jellal.

"Strange." Erza said, sadly. "We'll check out the woods tomorrow. For now, we should all get some rest."

Everyone made noises of agreement, but while most people headed upstairs to their rooms, Lucy headed to the bar.

"I need a drink." She whispered to herself.

"Right there with ya, Blondie." Cobra grinned beside her.

"Fuck!" Lucy squealed, jumping. "You're an asshole."

"And you, need to wash your mouth out with soap." He waggled his finger at her.

"Seems like soap would be more your thing." She dropped into a booth away from him, but he joined her anyway. Seating himself opposite her. "No offence," Lucy glared at him, "But I'd rather be on my own."

"Even if I couldn't read your soul, I'd know you want me to be offended." He replied. "Whatever, you don't have to like me."

"Duh," She rolled her eyes, picking apart a beer mat.

"But," Cobra interjected, poking the table, "drinking alone is sad. And sad as you are, you're not a total fucking emo."

She stared at him. He was right and she knew it. It boiled her piss but, she didn't actually want to be alone.

"Fine." She gave in, Cobra grinned. "This doesn't mean I forgive you."

"Whatever." If he was honest, he didn't actually care about her forgiveness, he just sensed some creepy guys and like hell was he going to face the scarlet witches wrath if her golden haired friend got molested. He swung out of the booth, dropping his coat on the seat before he went over to the bar.

"And you're buying!" She shouted to him, smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I'm back on a writing hype, as you can probably tell.  
> This is my first story for Fairy Tail that has proper plot points and an actual story line, not just fluff and slow burns.  
> Any and all feed back is appreciated, so let me know what you think!


	4. Royal Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drinking with someone who tried to kill you? Smart move Lucy.

Without his giant coat, Lucy could see his figure better. He was clearly built to fight. He was lean and lithe. Muscles honed by years of training. And heavy lifting. She was briefly saddened, remembering how he got his start in life. A slave, cursed to build the tower with what few friends he could find. Then there was Brain. Zero. Whoever. What a cockroach that guy had been.

Then obviously he'd spent time in prison. What was he going to do there except work out?

"I read a lot, actually." Cobra startled her, and put a drink down in front of her.

"What?" Lucy blinked.

"In prison." Cobra enunciated the words, slowly. Like someone explaining advanced calculus to a fourth grader.

Lucy rolled her eyes. Just because he decided to join her, didn't mean she had to talk to him. Especially if he was going to be a condescending asshat.

"Whatever." Cobra ground out, "I'm only here because I can feel Rapey McPervert over there staring at you like a goddamn rib eye steak." He jabbed his finger at a portly middle aged man sitting on his own at the bar. She hadn't even seen him. "Spoiler alert," Cobra whispered, "He's a rapist."

"I don't need you to babysit me." Lucy all but growled. Trying to supress the shiver of fear that came with implication of what Cobra heard in that strangers soul.

"I don't doubt it." Cobra sneered, "But imagine what Titania would do to me if something _did_ happen, and I knew about it before hand?"

Lucy just stared at him.

Cobra tore his gaze from her. "And what have I been working towards? If I let it happen?" He sighed and took a sip from his beer, running his finger around the rim when he set the glass back down.

"I'm-"

"-Sorry. Yeah. whatever." Cobra still wouldn't look at her. He knew small acts over a short period wouldn't negate every horrific thing he did, but out of everyone, he thought Lucy the-light-of-fucking-fairy-tail Heartfila would at least attempt to understand that he was _trying_. And it wasn't easy. People are infuriating. He wasn't going to sit there and sulk though. "Drink your... whatever that is." He gestured with his own glass before having another drink.

Thankful for the topic change, which in turn, shifted the atmosphere from full blown awkward to only almost awkward. Lucy lifted the cocktail glass to her nose and sniffed the blue liquid.

"What the hell is it?" She asked, scrunching her face, eyeballing the lemon and lime garnish.

"I don't fuckin' know." He shrugged. "You didn't tell me what you wanted, so I asked the guy for the girliest shit they do."

She took a sip, and nearly choked. Vodka burned her nose as it dripped onto her top lip.

"Holy shit that's gross!" Cobra guffawed from the other side of the table.

"Yeah," Lucy wheezed, punching her chest, "So is this." She slammed the glass down so hard the royal blue liquid sloshed up the side and onto the table. "Could you not smell the vodka?"

Cobra's eye lit up knowingly.

"Oh course you could." Lucy half laughed, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"Jeez, Blondie. At least use a napkin." Cobra flicked the one from under his beer towards her.

She was grateful that the condensation had dampened it, wiping away the remnants of the vile liquid from her top lip. She hoped the smell wouldn't linger.

"I'm not drinking that." Lucy stated, sliding out of the booth, towards the bar. Relief washed over her as she realised her and Cobra were the only two left in there now. Weird that she felt safer with him being there, but at least she knew where she stood with him. She ordered and went to sit back down, honey coloured liquor swirling around the bottom of a glass as she did.

"So, vodka is a no go, but straight whiskey is fine?" Cobra raised an eyebrow at her glass.

"First of all, it's scotch." Lucy corrected him, downing half the amber liquid in one swallow, "Second, that" she jabbed a finger at the discarded martini glass, "was house vodka. Not even Grey Goose. This," She lifted her scotch, "Is top shelf." She finished it in one more swallow. Licking her lips, she set the tumbler next to her other glass.

It really was hard to surprise Cobra. But this girl threw him so far off. Her brain went three thousand miles an hour. Analysing every little thing, it was hard to get a read on any one emotion. Except right now, she was... settled. That's the only way to describe it.

"I don't even really drink. Ever. Only when I'm really stressed. It soothes my soul." She sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, no shit." Cobra murmured, finishing his own drink.

"Well," Lucy stood again, "Thanks for preventing my untimely demise-"

"I never said he was going to kill you."

"Regardless. Thank you. I'm going to bed." She turned to walk away.

"Night, baby spice." He said to the back of her head.

Lucy lifted her hand in a wave, "Good night, Cobra."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cocktail is a Royal Blue.  
> 30 ml vodka  
> 45 ml blue curacao  
> 15 ml pineapple juice  
> 1 tsp lime juice.
> 
> Also I have choked so hard on vodka that it's come out of my nose before. It's the actual worst.


	5. Spatium Capiam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy makes a discovery.

In the morning, the team headed out to the woods,trying to see if they could find anything. Aside from Natsu's remarks regarding the smell (and Cobra silently agreeing that something wasn't quite right) they couldn't see anything at all out of the ordinary.

"It's just... woods." Erza sighed, frustrated. Jellal patted her shoulder in reassurance.

"We'll figure it out." He frowned.

Over the next few days, Team Natsu and Crime Sorciere trapsed town to town, village to village gathering as much information as possible. But every story was the same. A boy and a girl would get in a stupid squabble, then vanish without a trace. And every time they went to explore the location of the disappearances, they found nothing.

Natsu always smelled the same thing. But he couldn't describe it. Cobra didn't speak up until the third town.

"It's sweet, but smoky." He piped up when Erza accused Natsu of having a cold or something that was jamming his senses.

Everyone stopped and looked at him. Cobra rolled his eye.

"I can smell the same thing ash breath can." He rubbed his face, "But it does start anywhere. And it doesn't lead anywhere. It just-" he rolled his wrist, "-is."

"Yes!" Natsu exclaimed, "Exactly! That. It's weird. But it's familiar and I can't place it." Natsu frowned, he hated that he couldn't place it. He thought so hard he was silent near enough until the end of their intel mission.

By the time they eventually made it back to Magnolia and the guild hall, they were exhausted, and no closer to finding out what the hell was going on.

Lucy groaned as she lowered herself onto a bench, dropping her head into her hands.

"What are we missing?" She said out loud to no one in particular.

Everyone grumbled in response. They were all too tired to carry on the investigation.

"I need a drink." Gray said, scrubbing his hands down his face.

"Right there with ya." Gajeel agreed, following Gray to the bar. He and Juvia hadn't been able to glean much information either. Gajeel was far too intimidating, freaking parents out further. While Juvia spent her time stalking Gray while he and Lucy interviewed families.

Natsu yawned, Happy rubbed his eyes. Everyone was beat.

"There is no point in trying to work this out when we're so wrecked." Lucy reasoned, laying her head on her arms, and closing her eyes. "We should all-" she yawned, "-ah, sorry. All get some rest."

"The blonde talks sense." Cobra agreed, sidling up to the table with the rest of Crime Sorciere. Meredy was clinging onto Angel, near enough asleep on her feet.

Lucy sat up and narrowed her eyes at Cobra, he barely shrugged.

"Indeed," Erza stood, stretching, which Lucy was amazed by, given that she was _still_ in full armour. "We'll pick this back up tomorrow. Everyone, go home and sleep. We'll meet here for lunch."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy left her apartment early, letting Natsu and Happy snooze away, so she could think on her way to the guild. As her mind worked on the puzzle pieces of the investigation, her feet lead her around Magnolia. Her place to Cardia Cathedral, to the shopping district, along the canal, right into South Gate park.

She stopped when something caught her eye, right by where Carla said she saw Wendy last. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, then ran for the guild.

-  
Cobra heard her before he saw her. But with the way her lungs were working triple time, he wouldn't have been shocked if everyone could hear her ragged breaths by the time she finally burst through the doors. Frantic eyes searched the hall for anyone in her team. She scowled when she realised it was only Cobra, she was still really early.

"Where is everyone?" She asked, storming up to him.

Cobra shrugged, "Fucked if I know." He smirked.

"Bullshit." Lucy spat. "I know your hearing is exceptional, where are they?"

He stared at her, _well, someone's wearing her big girl panties._ He flapped a hand at her, "Chill out and sit. They're on their way."

On cue, Erza waltzed through the door, Jellal not far behind, then Gajeel, Gray, Juvia, Angel and Meredy, then everyone else. Last to crawl in sheepishly, was Natsu and Happy.  
"I saw something in the park." The words exploded from Lucy the second everyone was quiet.

Stunned silence last all of 0.3 seconds before they all exploded into a chourus of questions and "let's go then!"'s before Erza shut everyone up by asking for more information.

"I'm not sure, exactly, what it was. But I know it's connected to-" Lucy gestured widely around her, "-this."

Natsu was the first to say something. "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" He nearly flew out of the front door with how fast he moved.

"Guess we're following lava brain then." Gray shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as he wended his way through the tables towards the entrance.

At the park, Lucy lead Erza by the hand to what she saw. A tiny ripple, floating, chest height in front of the tree.

"Lucy, it's warm, everywhere looks like that in the heat." Erza reasoned.

"No, look." Gajeel said, pointing as the ripple moved, wriggling like a silk worm caught in the tree, dangling there in front of them.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"What is it?" Juvia asked, squinting to get a clearer look. No one answered.

Natsu moved closer, sniffing as he did. As he stopped dead in front of it, Cobra inhaled sharply, his eye wide.

"What is it?" Erza and Angel asked together.

"The smell." Cobra bit out.

"It's coming from here." Natsu answered as he reached out towards the ripple.

Lucy barely managed to get "Natsu! Wait! Don't tou-" before he vanished right in front of all of them.

Before anyone could register what had just happened, Lucy dove towards the ripple, towards where Natsu was, and disappeared as well. Cobra huffed and followed.

But before anyone else could figure out what had gone on, the ripple was gone. Angel and Meredy were shouting after Cobra, running over to where they seemingly evaporated.

But everyone else was stock still.

The only noise came from Gray.

"What in the ever loving sh-"


	6. Hellscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's confidence is growing. Being distracted by something as big as her missing friends is taking her mind off the fact that, not too long ago, she was terrified of the man she is currently stuck alone with.

Lucy's body felt as though it was being torn apart by thousands of angry fire ants. It lasted for eternity but also no time at all, before she hit a solid dirt floor. Lucy rolled for a few feet before being stopped dead by a stone wall. A pained "oof" slipped past her lips as her rear end collided with the wall.

Her eyes stayed closed while she tried to reason through what the hell just happened.

A rough voice came from behind her, or above her, depending how you were looking at her.

"We were chewed up and spat out by a tear in space." Cobra explained.

Lucy finally cracked an eye open. "Oh. Well that is _perfect_." Her voice was strained as she righted herself, ignoring Cobra when he offered his hand, ignoring him still as he rolled his eyes and turned away from her.

Lucy brushed off her skirt, moving to stand on Cobra's left. As she straightened, she saw what he was looking at.

The landscape that stretched ahead of them was vast. And horrifying. The sky was rust red, with bloody clouds staining it. The was no plant life save for some scrubby, dead under brush sticking out in tufts from a dehydrated wasteland.

Lucy recognised this place. In some deep part of her mind, she knew where she was, but couldn't quite reach it. Something else was bugging her.

"Where's Natsu?" Lucy said aloud, looking around.

"I don't know. He wasn't here when we landed." Cobra informed her.

Lucy snorted. _Landed. Like this is some luxury get away and we just stepped onto a runway lined with palm trees next to a beach._

"Well," Cobra interrupted her internal rambling, "there _is_ sand."

She stared at him blankly before huffing and stomping down towards a pathway worn into the ground. "Don't be creepy." She said over her shoulder.

Despite her attempt at a warning, he followed her, focusing on her soul. One thing was glaring. Her focus was predominantly on finding Natsu. One part of her brain was calculating ways to find the little blue haired one and the other fire infant. But her subconscious was much more interesting. Once he pushed past all of her logic and planning, he found an acid wonderland of complete nonsense. Her dreams must have been insane.

He'd zoned so hard into her brain that he didn't notice she'd stopped until he walked into her.

"Hey!" She yelled.

"Don't yell at me." He snapped. "You randomly stopped."

Lucy turned stared at him, one eyebrow up, arms crossed. "You're telling me," She smirked, "that you, Cobra, the most perceptive person ever. The guy who can literally hear peoples movements before they make them, didn't notice that I stopped a full second before you walked right into me?"

He didn't know how to respond. _"I was distracted by the inner workings of your Escher, kaleidoscope brain, you absolute lunatic?" I think the fuck not._

"Exactly." He drawled, hoping his tone remained bored and indifferent.

"Right." Lucy snorted.

"Why _did_ you stop?" He wondered as Lucy turned back around.

"That." She nodded towards something, arms still crossed under her ample chest.

Cobra looked up the path to where she'd pointed with her petite chin. About ten meters ahead of them, not attached to anything, with nothing behind it as far as he could see, was a huge, old oak door. Complete with brass handles and a giant knocker.

"That's a door."

"Yup.

"On its own."

"Uh huh."

"Outside."

"We can keep doing this all day," Lucy started towards the door, "Or," She reached for the handle, "We can find out what's behind here."

Cobra lifted an eyebrow. His brain was screaming at him that this was a bad idea. Random doors in the middle of butt fuck nowhere were never going to end up being anything good. Especially when they'd already been vomited into this hell scape. But still, the mirthful smile on her impish face was far too enticing to resist. It mirrored how he felt when he wound Midnight up. Who was he to say no?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"What do you mean _we have somehow lost Natsu, Lucy and Cobra?'_ " Makorov asked Erza and Jellal from behind his desk in his office.

"Exactly that." Jellal cleared his throat before adding "Sir."

"We went to take a closer look at something Lucy had found," Erza explained, "Some kind of ripple in the air, when Natsu got too close and vanished, followed by Lucy and Cobra."

"Yes. And the second Cobra dissipated, the ripple was gone." Jellal finished.

When their meeting with Master Makorov had finished, Erza and Jellal reunited with their team members. They'd gone straight to the guild hall to see if Makorov could help, they hadn't waited for the others. So when they saw Gray swinging Lucy's gate keys on his finger, Erza was shocked to say the least.

"She must have dropped them diving in after that idiot." Gray murmured.

"Can we use them to try and track down Lucy?" Juvia suggested from his side.

"Yeah," Gajeel agreed, "Aren't you a celestial mage too?" He nodded towards Angel.

"I was." She snapped. Angel tried not to be bitter, but she deeply regretted how things went down between her and her spirits. Though it made her happy knowing Lucy took care of them now. "But it wouldn't matter. I'm not contracted with any of her spirits." She said sadly. Even so, she doubted any of them would want to help her. She shrugged. "Sorry."

"It might not matter." Midnight said.

"Yeah," Meredy added, "They'll probably want to help Lucy."

Erza frowned. Leo had once been a part of the guild, under the guise of Loke. He was her strongest spirit and closest ally outside of their team. It would stand to reason that he would want to help find her.

"We should try." Erza said directly to Angel. "We won't know unless we try."

Everyone muttered agreements. Gray handed the keys to her. And wished her luck.


	7. When last we met...

Holding her breath, Angel brushed her fingers over the keys. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't command the gates to open. Her eyes traced the keys along with her fingers. Scorpio, Gemini, Aries. Her throat tightened. Lucy had more keys than any other celestial mage she'd come into contact with. _And now she has access to the star dress, too. Her power must be unreal compared to the last time we met._

She took a deep breath, now wasn't the time to be dwelling on the past. If any of them were going to make it up to Fairy Tail, they could start by getting Lucy back. She drew Leo's key. But before she could even speak, they were washed in golden light and Leo appeared in front of her.

"Loke." Erza said by way of greeting.

"Erza, long time no see." He replied, but wasted no time with pleasantries and small talk. He already knew Lucy was missing.

"She's in another dimension." He explained. He waited for everyone to stop shouting questions at him before he lifted his hands to shut them all up. "The spirit realm exists in the space between dimensions. As soon as Lucy went through that tear, I felt a shift. Even though she dropped her keys." He looked brokenly to where they were still being held in Angel's hand.

He couldn't excuse her past treatment of his brothers and sisters. But Lucy had forgiven Angel for how she had treated her. Loke could see this girl was trying. All she wanted right now was to get Lucy and the others _home_ and that determination was what had him setting aside his own feelings of mistrust.

He sighed, deeply.

"I don't know where she landed." He explained. "There's an infinite number of alternate universes and realities. Some run parallel to this one, with only minor differences. Genders being switched, different hair colours. Some run tangentially. The differences are stark. Entire worlds being different. People who you recognise as being human here, being something else entirely." Everyone was stunned, staring at him.

"Why have you never mentioned this before?" Erza questioned, quietly. Not angry, as much as she was genuinely curious. Both about the subject, and why it had never been brought up before.

Loke shrugged, "It never came up, I guess." Erza accepted this without question.

"How do we get to one of these other worlds?" Gray asked, inciting mutters of agreement among the rest of their group.

"More importantly," Juvia added, "To the world Lucy, Natsu and Cobra ended up in." Her face was long. Despite her inner rivalry with Lucy, she still held her in high regard. They had been guildmates and friends for years now. It hurt her, that she was helpless. She was sure it was hurting Gray too. When she looked to him, his face was set in quiet contemplation. He was concentrating hard on Loke. Something that should have irked her, but everyone was the same. Fear that they might not find their guild mates, their friends, their _family_ united this group of wizards in a way they hadn't been before. And Juvia felt proud. Proud and determined. They _would_ find the others. They had to.

Loke spoke again. "There's no sure fire way of finding exactly which world they ended up in. Or even if they all landed in the same one. And," his face contorted in pain, "since Lucy's keys are here, I have no way to pin point her exact location." He sighed, again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cobra regretted, instantly, following Lucy into the rift. More so, he regretted following her through that door. Now, they were trapped in, what he thought, might be a giant maze. Lucy kept stopping, touching weird plants that stuck out of the walls like fingers and limbs.

The girl had no grasp on her curiosity. Everything _needed_ to be explored. Her brain was going too fast for even _her_ to keep up. What chance did he have? Everything was new. Her eyes saw everything the way a child did. Nothing was scary. He, however, was wary of every little thing. Perceptive of every noise, every change in his limited peripheral vision. Every stray dust mote that floated too close to his indigo eye had his adrenaline going triple time.

He kept himself tapped into the part of her brain that was over analysing all the details she was picking up. Somewhere in her subconscious, she was describing what she saw in painfully accurate detail, jotting it down in a neuro notepad for future use.

_The way the light slanted on an off angle against the dull stone walls, it was as though she'd walked into a sepia photograph. Heavy steps echoed her lighter footfalls. The way her companion kept pace behind her, making her feel safe in this strange, unforgiving environment. She was grateful for his presence._

Cobra snorted. _Safe?_ Was she stupid? The way she eyed him when the noise left him made him think she had no idea how she was truly feeling around him. And if anything, that worried _him_ slightly.

"What?" He growled before Lucy had a chance to turn away again.

"Thought I heard you choke." She said, touching the wall on her right. Her fingers tracing strange patterns carved into the bricks. She slid her gaze back to him. "Apparently that was wishful thinking."

Cobra snorted again. "That was funny. Well done."

"I wish I knew where we were." Lucy said, gazing up at the sky as she continued forward.

"Or where this leads." Cobra added, keeping a watch for where she was walking, since she was too focused on the screeching birds above her to be bothered.

A faint click below them had his eyes snapping to the floor beneath her feet. Stone slid quickly against stone. Before Lucy knew what was happening, Cobra grabbed her around the waist as the ground fell from beneath her.

The momentum forced them both backwards, and they landed in what would be considered a compromising position, had anyone been around to see them.

Cobra pulled his face out of the blonde's chest, inhaling what passed as fresh air as he did. 

"Oh my god," He wheezed.

"What the hell?!" Lucy yelped, trying to not fall over as she clambered off his lap, sitting on the stone ground next to him.

"You're welcome." Cobra deadpanned.

Lucy stared in shock at the hole in the ground where she was stood previously. "What the hell." She repeated.

Cobra didn't have time to respond. Instead, he turned behind them, gaping at the passageway they'd come from.

He turned back to Lucy, yanking her upright.

"Run."


	8. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at Fairy Tail, Crime Sorciere and what's left of Team Natsu try to figure out how to save everyone.  
> Cobra and Lucy run for their lives, escaping through yet another door.

"I can only take two of you." Loke explained.

"What?" Gray said at the same time Erza sputtered "Why?"

"Because," Loke explained, "This will drain far too much magic power. And not just mine," he continued, "I have to get permission. And help."

Angel, Meredy, Hoteye, Racer, Gajeel, Juvia, Erza and Jellal, all sat in silence as Loke explained how he would need to go back ot the spirit realm, and talk to the Celestial Spirit King. From there, he would need to figure out a way of figuring out where Lucy was. He wouldn't even be able to guarantee he'd find the others. Only her, because of her contracts. Even then, as he'd already told them, she didn't have her keys.

This whole thing was going to be hit and miss.

"So you need to decide which two of you will be coming. And I have to warn you," Loke's face turned solemn, "Interdimensional travel isn't fun, nor is it comfortable. Your stamina and stomachs will be tested to their limit."

Everyone blanched at that last part. Still, there was nothing any of them wouldn't do to get their friends back.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Run!" Cobra shouted at her when she stood, rooted to the spot, paralysed by fear. Cobra growled when she still didn't move. He picked her up, and bailed left into another passageway. Small vibrations behind them after the floor gave way, suggested something Cobra hoped wouldn't be happening. But his hopes were murdered violently when the slight vibrations turned into seismic rumbling.

Almost quicker than he could run, the ground kept giving way behind him. Following where he sprinted. His chest was on fire. Despite years of training, keeping active, healthy, his lungs were _on fire_. Carrying the extra weight left his arms numb. Still, his feet pounded the paving stones as he ran faster than he ever had done before.

Cobra allowed himself to look at Lucy for a split second. Her eyes, wide as dinner plates, were so full of fear. Terror, deeper than anything he'd seen caused by his own hands, as everything they thought was, suddenly wasn't.

Not knowing what to expect freaked him out too. But hearing, and feeling, her sheer panic, made it worse. Almost like an empathic link. She was projecting her fear onto him, and she didn't even realise it.

A primal need to protect the small woman in his arms forced him to run harder. Faster. Until he saw two more doors. _When in doubt, go left._ He didn't even think, just crashed through the door and hoped for the best.

It slammed behind them, and he dropped Lucy when he realised the rumbling had stopped. Not died down, not slowly petered off into nothing.

No. The door slammed, and suddenly, the ground was dirt again.

He swallowed down the earth scented air in huge, ragged gulps. Bent double, hands on his shaking knees, he hacked out a cough. Then, very ungracefully, dropped onto the floor. Cobra strained, listening for any indication that anything else could happen. No walls. No booby traps. They were safe. Ish. Maybe. For now.

Lucy couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Cobra had saved her. Twice. In less than five minutes. With no regard to his own wellbeing, he'd snatched her from mid air to stop her plummeting to her death. Then, within the next thirty seconds, scooped her up and ran for both of their lives as the maze quite literally crashed down around them.

"Th-thank you." Lucy stammered. Her heart was going ten to the dozen. She recognized the feeling. Her palms were sticky. Her vision blurred and a strangled noise escaped her as her knees buckled and gave way.

Strong, warm hands caught her under the arms before she could hit the floor, and guided her the rest of the way down. She couldn't get a breath in. Her throat tightened and tears slid down her face.

The reality of what was happening had finally sunk in, and everything around her was reduced to white noise.

-

Lucy was having a panic attack. Her emotions washed over Cobra like a tidal wave. Crashing hard into him. He was reacting by instinct, having been there for Midnight in the Tower. The only sound coming from her soul was static. She was over stimulated and shutting down.

When she collapsed, he didn't think before catching her and got her slowly to the floor where he sat her in front of him, her unseeing eyes looking straight through him.

 _Holy shit._ Cobra thought. _Midnight was never this bad._ He frowned, holding her by her shoulders in front of him.

"Lucy?" He said firmly. No response. Her breathing wasn't right. Shallow and uneven, she'd pass out if he couldn't get her to listen. "Lucy? Come on. You need to breathe." She still wasn't focusing on him. He gritted his teeth. "Ah, shit. I'm sorry about this." He bit out, then smacked her. Not hard, just enough to get her to snap out of it.

Life returned to her eyes and pure anger flashed through them briefly before her attention snapped wholly to his face. Fear took over and she gulped down deep breaths, but it was still uneven.

Cobra took her hand and pulled her close to him, resting her head on his chest. "I'm going to count, and you're going to breathe in as I do, okay?" He told her gently.

She nodded, shaking so hard he genuinely thought she was going to fall apart.

"Good. Then as I count back down, you breathe out. Got it?" Lucy nodded again.

He counted to seven and back down to one a few times before her breathing evened out and she wasn't in danger of fainting.

"Okay. Now, you know where we are?" Cobra asked, firm, but still gentle. Lucy shook her head. He sighed. _Stupid fucking question._ "Yeah, of course." He sat her up. Looking in her honey brown eyes. He realised he'd never seen her truly afraid until this moment. She was always defensive, stubborn, a little scared around him. But this, was pure, unadulterated, terror. With no other emotions. Her soul was stripped down to nothing but this. And he hated it.

He pulled her close again. He looked around, properly. The door they'd crashed through was gone. This whole place was a clusterfuck of nonsense, and Cobra was thoroughly fed up. A growl rumbled, low in his chest. Lucy sighed.

Cobra's eye slid down to look at her again. Her face was blotchy and tear stained. Her breath was still shuddering when she breathed too deeply, but she was better. Her ability to process everything was returning to her slowly. But that sigh. _That was content._ Cobra's mouth opened slightly in shock.

He couldn't move or think as everything that was Lucy came back to her. She was warm. She felt safe, her fear was being replaced by comfort, and gratitude. And mirthful ire.  
Without opening her eyes, she said "Don't think I wont get you back for that slap." And her mouth shifted into a crooked smile.

Cobra pulled Lucy up. Setting her on unsteady feet. She seemed much more stable, and they couldn't afford to hang around. They needed to figure out where they were. He grabbed her shoulder when she stumbled.

"I'm okay." She assured him.

He didn't totally believe her, but they had to keep moving. Getting her going, distracting her with the task at hand, might be the best thing for her.

"Hm." He regarded her carefully.

"I am." She replied, adamant not to be perceived as weak, or pathetic. She hadn't had a panic attack since before she left home. Years of control, breathing techniques and meditation. Not to mention all of her training, and the confidence she'd gained through everything she'd been through with Fairy Tail, she thought she'd left that part of her in the past.

"You never really get over that kind of thing." Cobra said from where he was walking ahead of her. "Extreme stress and changes in your environment can trigger attacks, even if you haven't had one in a long time."

"I thought I told you not to dig around in my brain." Lucy replied.

"Actually, you told me not to be creepy." He smirked, he found he was glad she was back to being the quick witted girl he knew her to be.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she fell into step beside him. "I don't want to talk about it. Thank you, though." A blush crept across her cheeks.

Cobra shrugged.

They walked up hill for a short while, in comfortable silence.

But before long, the hill crested, and what Lucy saw, made her realise why she knew this place.


	9. All Greek to Me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra figure out who is behind the disappearances.

Lucy gasped. Cobra felt her soul stutter in complete disbelief. Her hands flew to her mouth. She took a tentative step, moving to lean on a totally bare tree. Cobra was convinced it was dead. Everything here seemed to be. He hadn't heard a single soul since they arrived. The peace was nice, but there was nothing to dilute what he heard from Lucy. He'd not even seen a bird. Or a fly. Something was definitely off.

"So," Cobra stood next to Lucy, "You know where we are?"

"I know I'm dreaming." She whispered, still staring ahead of them.

"What?"

"There's no freaking way this is real." She said, louder. She stepped ahead, turning so she could gesture widely with her arm at what lay ahead of them. A gargantuan maze. And dead centre, lay a castle. Ominous, shrouded in mist and odd darkness. A weird feeling washed over Cobra. Fear.

"After everything we've been through, _now_ you decide it's a dream?" Cobra was confused. Once again, her thought were going a mile a minute. Pictures. Words. Red and white stripes. Weird looking gremlins. A clock with thirteen numbers.

"The Labyrinth is a _book_ , Cobra." Lucy near shouted at him. "This isn't happening."

Laughter made them both jump, though Cobra concealed his surprise much better than Lucy, who yelped.

"This is definitely happening, Lucy." A voice, slick as an oil spill, slid down Lucy's spine. Making her shudder. She knew that voice. And she did not want to turn around.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Gajeel was out. He couldn't handle trains. "So fuck that noise," was his response to the possibility of doing the time warp through hundreds of different worlds. He decided to stay and see if he could help Levy look into the lore.

No one was thrilled at the prospect of travelling through pockets of nothing, being torn to shreds and rebuilt from atoms to get from one world to another, but everyone was willing to go. Loke decided that pulling names from a hat was the only fair option.

"Okay guys," Mira smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes, as she held out a top hat, pulled from Erza's requip stores. 

Loke stood in front of them all. And dipped his hand in.

"Gray," Loke announced.

"Okay." The ice mage replied.

"And," Loke's hand disappeared into the hat again. "Midnight."

Midnight nodded, his heavy lidded eyes fighting to stay open.

It had only been a few hours since Natsu, Lucy and Cobra went missing, but it felt like an eternity ago.

"I'll make you guys some food before you go. 'Kay?" Mira chirped, strolling back to the bar.

The group murmured as they set about trying to figure out ways they could all help.

-  
After eating, and preparing, Loke took Gray and Midnight to the Celestial Spirit realm.

"I've tried getting a read on her magical signature, but it's so weak, I can only get so close to it." Loke explained as they walked towards where the Spirit King waited for them.  
"The good news is," Virgo popped up, making Gray jump, which caused Midnight to chuckle, "We've narrowed it down to only a few worlds. Five at most."

"That's good." Gray remarked.

"Once we get to a world, we'll be able to track her magic closer, we'll know almost instantly if she's there or not. But we have to be quick." Loke told them.

"What's the bad news?" Midnight yawned.

Virgo and Loke frowned at each other. Virgo told them. "Of the five we've got it down to, there's one we definitely do not want it to be."

"Of course." Gray sighed.

At that moment, they reached the Spirit King, who wasted no time at all, in launching them to the first world.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The hair on Cobra's neck stood up. He didn't like this. Being caught off guard was one thing, reacting like _this_ was unacceptable. He growled. More at himself than the intruder.

"This guy doesn't have a soul." Cobra ground out. A sweet, smoky smell assaulted his olfactory sense and he instantly knew this was the guy. He was at the root of the disappearances.

"Of course not." Lucy replied, her soul was disturbed, remembering. Stubbornness and defiance started to press on the forefront of her mind.

_She's met this guy before?_

"Mard Geer." Lucy said through gritted teeth. Her jaw was clenched so hard, Cobra thought her face might shatter. The leader of the dark guild, Tartaros. This guy, and his followers, were notorious for being sadistic pricks. Cobra was bad, but this guy made him look like a preschooler with a magnifying glass and an ants nest. Lucy swallowed, thickly, burying memories. Painful, soul shattering memories.

"Yes," a sickening smile slid across his face. "How are you?"

"I thought you were dead." Lucy barked. A Rottweiler, remembering a master who mistreated her.

Mard laughed. It was wrong in how beautiful the noise was. Lucy hated herself for being drawn to it. And him. Cobra grabbed her hand, he didn't think she would go to him, but he needed to be certain.

"Not dead," The black haired man examined his nails, "Returned. To Tartaros." He continued to explain when he got no response from either Lucy or Cobra. "The is _the_ Labyrinth. Created by Daedalus, guarded by me. That book," he spat, "is the closest any mortal has gotten to describing it, and they child proofed it."

Lucy was stunned. "Where is Natsu? And Wendy? Romeo? All of the children. Was that you?" 

He laughed, again. And Cobra launched himself at him. But he was stopped. Thick, brambled vines wrapped, tightly up his legs, his wrists.

"Cobra!" Lucy shouted.

Mard's easy demeanour slipped. The mask was off. Spine straight, teeth bared, he approached the poison dragon slayer. He put his finger under Cobra's chin, who moved to try and bite it, but his head was snapped back by the vines.

"Let him go." Lucy's voice was even. "Let them all go."

Mard grabbed Cobra's chin, looking at Lucy as he applied pressure with his nails.

"Or what?" Cruel boredom laced his voice. " You don't have Fairy Tail behind you. You don't have _anyone_." Lucy looked like a kicked dog. Mard rolled his eyes. "Yes, I have the Fire Dragon Slayer, and the Sky Maiden. And the others." Fire reignited in Lucy's soul. "But, you have to work for them. You've read this story, Lucy. You know the game. Play to win, or I get to keep them all."

He cackled maniacally as his slowly faded away. Vines snapped as Cobra was freed.

"What the fuck?" He asked her, rubbing his wrists. 

"We have thirteen hours." Lucy said, stalking towards the Labyrinth.


	10. Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm not being nice," Cobra snapped back, "I'm just not actively being an asshole."

_Thirteen hours for what?_ Cobra tried to glean the information from her soul, but all he was getting was crotch shots from some skinny dude with questionable hair and quotes. _You have no power over me_. It was too goddamn easy to get lost in this chicks brain. He decided it was best to just check out before he got lost in the Hotel California of her soul.

A gurgling sound pulled him from his own thoughts.

"Ah." Lucy bit her lip.

"Hungry?" Cobra asked. Stating the obvious. They'd been walking for at while since Mard vanished. The sun was going down, and if time was working the same as it did on Earthland, it had been about 8 hours since they got yanked through the ether.

"Why do you care so much?" Lucy snapped, turning to face him. She was on the verge of a full breakdown. Since this mission started, he'd gone out of his way to talk to her. In the guild hall with his attempt at an apology. In the hotel bar. For fuck's sake, he'd followed her into a goddamn tear in space. "Why are you being so nice?"

"I'm not being nice," Cobra snapped back, "I'm just not actively being an asshole." He sighed. He knew Lucy wasn't actually annoyed at him. And that pissed him off. He'd done nothing wrong. But she was tired, hungry, anxious, and she was taking it out on him.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, starting to walk again.

"You know what?" Cobra grabbed her wrist, stopping her, making her turn around. Her eyes snapped to where he held her, her mouth opening in shock. She went to speak, to tell him to get off. "No." He growled. "I have had enough of this." He dropped her wrist, shoving her back as he did. "You called my apology pathetic. Yeah, okay, it was. But I tried. And I kept trying." He huffed in defeat. He stepped toward her. Lucy stepped back.

Lucy bit out a bark of bitter laughter. "Oh, excuse me for not forgiving the guy who tried to kill me!" Her voice was near hysterical, "Twice!"

"I didn't try and kill you!" Cobra countered. "Jesus. Are you always this self centred?" He took another step forward. Lucy nearly fell over a tree root, jutting up from the ground, but quickly righted herself.

"What?" It was Lucy's turn to growl.

"The Nirvana incident? I tried to kill Titania. And Natsu. Be mad at me for that." He ran a hand down his face, "But don't try and make it about you." He held up a hand when Lucy tried to retaliate, "And the Infinity Clock? That was Midnight. Once again, I faced off against Titania. Not. You."

"Sorry, forgot I was the one in the clock!" She yelled at him.

Another growl rumbled low in his chest, he closed the space between them, trapping her against a tree, his arms either side of her face. His teeth bared, fangs glinting in the dying evening light. Lucy held her ground and stared at Cobra. His eye darted between each of hers. There was no fear left. Just defiance. He blew air out of his nose, and walked off.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Vomit splattered as it hit a pathway next to a lush lawn. "Oh, that was gross." Gray's voice strained as he picked himself up from where he landed. He was surrounded by rose bushes, birds flew backwards overhead and despite the fact it was daytime, the moon was full in the sky. His head hurt, and his throat was raw.

"This is weird." Midnight said from beside him. He sniffed. Recoiling at the strong smell of paint. Behind him, a huge grey stone castle loomed against a cerulean sky.

"No kidding," Gray replied, making his way to one of the bushes. Red paint dripped onto his shoe.

Before they had a chance to ponder on their surroundings, Loke materialised next to them. Unfazed.

"What the hell." Gray grouched.

"Well, you didn't throw up." Midnight spat the remnants of bile into the bushes.

"I'm a spirit." Loke turned his nose up at Midnight's action, straightening his tie. "I'm used to the traveling."

Gray was the first to ask, "Well? Is she here?"

Loke was staring at the castle ahead of them. Then the maze of bushes around them. "No." There was very little magical signature here. This was one of the worlds with no magic users. Even though, the world itself was magical. He sensed talking animals, plants that altered space and size.

"Should we get going then?" Midnight queried.

Loke eyed them both. "Not yet." He took their appearances in. Dark circles under their eyes. Pasty skin, trembling knees, laboured breathing. This was the first jump, but it was already taking it's toll. "You need a break," he cut them off before they could protest, "You were broken down to a molecular level, and reconstructed. It's hugely taxing on your bodies and magic. We can spare a couple of hours. It's not like Lucy or the others will be going anywhere. We'll know as soon as we get to the world they're in."

Gray wanted to fight with him about this, but he was right. They had no idea what was waiting for them when they found the others. If they ever did. _No. We will find them._ They needed to be as strong as possible. If that meant taking a nap in the middle of a garden filled with roses painted red, then so be it.

It didn't take long for Midnight to fall asleep. The fact the moon was out in the light of day played havoc with his magic, exhausting him.

As Gray drifted off, he could have sworn he saw a caterpillar smoking a pipe.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Natsu opened his eyes. It was dark, he couldn't see a thing, but every hair on his body stood up in warning. He was bound. Magic restriction devices shackled his wrists and ankles. His back arched with the effort of attempting to break free.

He couldn't use his flames. His senses were dulled. Natsu roared in frustration.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A roar in the distance broke Lucy out of her foul mood. Cobra's attention snapped immediately towards the source.

"That came from the castle." She breathed, running past Cobra, towards the entrance of the Labyrinth.

Cobra jogged to catch up. They watched in stunned silence. Like something from a movie, fog seeped from under huge oak doors. At least twenty feet tall. Iron handles in the centre came apart.

Lucy braced herself. Taking a deep breath, she charged forward. Not waiting for Cobra. Not waiting for her fear to catch up to her. But he could hear it. Lingering. Biding it's time.


	11. Cross Eyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra move on, despite the awkwardness following their fall out.

Lucy looked both ways down the alleyway that stretched to their left and right. She took a deep breath and stormed right.

Cobra was struggling to keep up with her as she kept a brisk pace, traversing fallen branches from trees that didn't exist. He was still silently raging from their fight earlier. In nearly an hour, the only thing either of them had said was _that came from the castle_ and that roar had made Lucy's soul shift from and internal thunder storm to all out war. She was on the hunt for Natsu and would destroy anything or anyone that got in her way.

He reluctantly admired her for it.

Determination rose steadily in her. Tactics and logic ran parallel to memories of a story in her soul. _Where. Is. The. Opening._ She growled in frustration. Her brisk steps turned to full blown running.

"Yo! Baby Spice!" Cobra shouted after her, having to watch where he put his feet. He may have been strong, and had the advantage of hearing souls in combat, but when it came to running in cluttered alley ways, he wasn't nearly as stealthy as the blonde in front of him.

"What?!" She roared, skidding to a stop and turning to face him.

"Woah. Slow down. Okay? Stop, take a breath, and just think." He spoke quickly, taking advantage of the fact she was still clearly too pissed to talk to him. "Your thoughts are like spaghetti. Nothing is making sense, and you're confusing yourself."

She shuddered, on the verge of tears. He was right, and she knew it. She thought back to her panic attack, she wanted him to touch her again, it would help ground her, but the tension between them was still there. She took a breath. Cobra took a step.

"You said this was a book." She nodded, even though it wasn't a question, Cobra continued, "So start there. Tell me," He breathed in, he couldn't believe he was doing this, but he took her hand, "tell me about the book."

Lucy stared at their hands between them as she recounted the story of the Goblin King and the stolen child. About the monsters, the fighting, the anthropomorphic animals. About the ever changing labyrinth.

"Nothing is ever what it seems," Lucy choked, fighting back tears that stung her throat as she tried to make Cobra understand, "it's always changing." A tear slid down from each eye. She took her hand back, wiping her face.

"We'll figure it out." Cobra dropped his hand to his side, ignoring the static buzz he felt in his finger tips. "We just have to take it slow."

Lucy nodded. A small movement, making her look much younger. And that fear was bubbling up inside of her.

"So," he said, making her look at him, "Where do we start?"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Gray tore through the atmosphere as he finished being reassembled. Midnight appeared next to him and they tumbled, screaming towards the ground. Their fall was stopped, 3 metres short of them becoming pavement pizza.

"Finally." Loke drawled as the pair dropped to their feet. He was sat on what looked like an over turned corrugated roof.

"Shut up." Gray snarked.

Midnight turned green, but managed to hold his stomach together this time. Gray felt the effects worse that the last world. This one was dark, especially in comparison to how vivid the last one was. Smoke and gun powder stained the scent of the atmosphere, and red plumes streaked the horizon.

Distant shouting interrupted the relative silence.

"She's not here." Loke told them, standing. Gray rolled his eyes. "We need to go. The last world was safe. But-"

"Someone is coming." Midnight yawned.

"A lot of someones." Loke confirmed. "Get down." He whisper shouted, shoving them both under the roof he'd been sat on.

Footsteps pounded past them, they stopped, regrouping, breathing. One had a drink of water.

Something whistled and exploded nearby.

Midnight jumped.

"We can't stay here." Gray whispered.

"If we jump now," Loke whispered back, "You two might not make it."

"Damn it" Gray pounded the floor in front of him.

Midnight just sighed, he was exhausted. He was always tired, but this? This he felt in his bones. His soul. His power was drained to near empty. Gray must have been feeling the same, if not worse. It was a fact that Midnight and the other Seis were strong, at least in power. But he couldn't figure out how Gray still had any energy left to argue with Loke. Leo. The name thing was getting to him. 

The last thing Midnight saw before closing his eyes, was lighting hit the floor in front of him. Thunder rumbled over head, but he didn't remember seeing clouds.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy looked around. Behind Cobra, then back behind herself. The alley seemed to stretch forever.

"We should feel along the walls. This whole place is like those illusions." She moved along the wall, when Cobra just stared at her, she explained. "You know, the ones on the back of Sorcerer Weekly?"

He shrugged, moving along the opposite wall.

"You either have to be up real close, or really far away." Her hands moved up and down the brick as she walked. "Or cross your -" She stopped. And winced.

Cobra heard her entire being stutter with embarrassment at her fuck up. He couldn't help laughing as her face turned a deep, flaming crimson.

"Sorry!" She squeaked.

"Oh man, blondie." His face creased with the laughter, "Your fuckin' face!" Honestly, it didn't bother him that people forgot he only had one eye. It's not a common thing. And to be fair, her only clear memories of him, he had two.

"You don't need to laugh." Lucy sulked, stopping. Cobra was still going, but she moved over to smack his arm.

Cobra was laughing so hard, that he missed the pocket of empty space in the wall.

As he fell into the void, he grabbed Lucy's hand, dragging her with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you might notice that Gray, Midnight and Loke are going from world to world. And since I am l a z y af, I've taken inspiration from other work.  
> 10 points to anyone who can guess where they're from. Though this chapter is probably slightly obscure.  
> Anyway, as always, any and all feedback is massively appreciated!! Thank you all for reading. I'm really loving writing this story.


	12. Non Exsequiarum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Members of both guilds remain at Fairy Tail, with nothing to do but wait.  
> Lucy and Cobra notice something weird.  
> And Midnight, Gray and Loke have jumped yet again, but are they any closer to their friends?

"There is nothing else we can do from here." Erza reasoned as Meredy complained, for the eighth time, that she was bored, that they should be doing something. Anything.  
"She's right you know," Angel told her from her perch next to Cana at the bar.

"Yeah! Come," Cana encouraged, slurring and patting the stool to her left, "Grab a drink." She winked.

Meredy sighed. She couldn't help being anxious. Two of her team were gone, the Gods only knew where. Not to mention the other missing mages. Romeo and Wendy, tough as they are, are still only children. They must be terrified, where ever they were. Meredy resigned herself to taking Cana's advice, and sat with them at the bar.

Though she didn't fold when Cana poked fun at her for only ordering an orange juice.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Finally!" Lucy shrieked, stopping Cobra's hysterical laughter.

He winced as he covered his overly sensitive ears.

"Sorry," Lucy said quietly from where she'd landed on top of him.

"All you seem to do is apologise." Cobra said, gruffly. Not making any attempt to move.

"Sorry," Lucy mumbled. Again.

Cobra just rolled his eye and laughed at her again. "Seriously?" When Lucy blushed again, he laughed harder. Lucy smacked his arm, the blush creeping up her ears. "Okay. Okay. Nice as this is," he nodded to where she was lying on top of him, "You need to get off of me."

"Oh! My God!" Lucy squeaked, scrambling off of him.

She started babbling, apologising, again.

Cobra was brushing off his pants, when a sound caught his attention. He held his hand up, cutting Lucy off. She stared, shocked, for all of a second before going off on one about him being rude and obnoxious and all kinds of shit he already knew about himself.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose before he span and grabbed Lucy by the shoulders. Warmth travelled from his finger tips up to her neck. "Please. For the love of all that is fucking holy, be quiet for a minute." Before she could do anything, he let go. Spinning to figure out what direction the sound had come from.

"Cobra." Lucy said from behind him.

"Shhhhhh." He flapped his hand behind him, straining to hear the noise again.

"Cobra!" Lucy yelled.

"What?!" He yelled back, spinning to face her.

"It's day light." She pointed up.

"What?" He looked to the dulled blue sky. "Oh. Shit."

Before they came through the wall, Cobra would have put the time at about 10pm. Based on the time of year and how close to dark it was. Now, it seemed to be about 5am.  
"We lost seven hours?" He was more confused than he had ever been in his entire life, and the look on Lucy's face meant she wasn't fairing much better. He soul was a mess, her thought's weren't great either. But before they could reason through just what in the _ass_ was happening, the noise caught his ear again. 

A whimper.

His head snapped towards where it came from. The castle. Somehow, the hole in the wall had dropped them considerably closer to their goal. And by the sounds of it, that's where Wendy was.

A growl, swearing, the sound of metal being smashed against stone. _Salamander_. 

He'd already started towards the noises. Lucy was keeping pace beside him. He was thankful that she was still being quiet. Her soul was too. That caught him off guard, but he didn't let his focus falter. Lucy had told him, when explaining about the book she knew this place from, that they had thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth, or their friends would be one of them. Forever.

_"What does that even mean?" Cobra had asked._

_"The Goblin King, or in this case, Mard Geer, turns his captives into goblins."_

_Cobra snorted. "Not much change for Salamander, then." The derisive look on Lucy's face shut him up._

If they had lost 7 hours due to some bullshit time magic, they only had six hours left.

In thirty minutes, they had made some decent progress, the castle seemed to be getting closer, Cobra was able to navigate based on his hearing.

But he was focusing so hard on listening to where Natsu was, he didn't hear the floor open up beneath them, until all he heard was Lucy's screaming.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Midnight was wrecked. Gray was no better. The second world had appeared to be torn apart by civil war, from what Loke could glean from snippets of conversation he heard while Gray and Midnight grabbed an hour's sleep. The camp they had ended up in was ran by a group called the scarlet something. He didn't want to stay here longer than necessary, it seemed like having magic power here was a very dangerous thing, so they couldn't risk being found. As soon as they stirred, he whisked them to the next world.

He had no control over where they landed, and the next world could have been just as dangerous as the last, depending where they ended up.

It was another place where having magic could be detrimental to there wellbeing, again, depending where they burst through.

Luckily, they landed in a city Loke knew was safe enough for magic users. They were spat out under a bridge.

Even if Midnight hadn't felt like his stomach had been ran through a shredder caught in a cement mixer, the smell from the river alone would have been enough to make him vomit. A barge was crawling past, piled high with bodies. The sight pushed Gray over the edge, and his stomach gave up too.

Loke was just happy he wasn't capable of being sick.

Fireworks went off somewhere over head, and the city went into chaos.

"Is Lucy here?" Gray rasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Loke cocked his head, listening. "No."

Gray and Midnight both moaned. Collapsing to the floor.

"Shit, man, we can't keep doing this!" Gray was angry. He was exhausted.

"We need to hide." Loke said, pushing them back, into the shadowy cover of the bridge. Before they could protest, he explained, "Something is happening up there. I don't know what, but I can sense a _lot_ of magic power. You two are seriously drained, you need to lay low and rest." He growled at them. 

A trash can fire had been abandoned next to an opening in the wall. Loke peered in. It wasn't perfect, but it was dry and out of the way.

"Why can't we just recuperate in the spirit world?" Gray whined as he was pushed down onto a makeshift bed. The cardboard was much comfier than it looked.

"Because of the way time passes." Loke told him. "You know a couple of hours there is three months in Earthland time. But from what we can gather, time passes in these non-spirit worlds more or less the same as Earthland. We cant risk losing that amount of time."

Snoring interrupted Gray before he could respond. Midnight was already down for the count.

"You should rest, Gray. We're safe for now."

Reluctantly, Gray laid down, sleep took him before his head even hit the folded sweater acting as a pillow.


	13. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra inch ever closer to their final goal.  
> While Gray, Midnight and Loke are still trying to find them.  
> Mard reveals his full plan to Natsu.

Hands. Everywhere. Fingertips dug into Lucy's extremities. Nails pinched her legs and arms as she struggled.

Stone hands. This hole in the ground was lined with hundreds of them. But they weren't for decoration. Cobra squirmed trying to break free, but one glance down had his stomach doig somersaults. The pit didn't look like it ended. It was just mile after mile of hands.

He looked over to Lucy, she'd been caught just next to him, and he was thankful for how wide the hole was. Her eyes widened with realisation.

_Helping hands._

"Up!" She yelled. "Up! Please!"

Before Cobra could ask just what the holy hell was going on, the ground barfed them back out. Once again, they were somewhere entirely different to where they thought they would be. Bruises were already blooming on Lucy's skin, and he figured it was safe to assume his arms and legs looked pretty much the same. It felt like he'd lost the worlds most intense poke war.

"Mother fucker!" Lucy screamed into the sky. She was kicking at tufts of grass poking out of the dusty pathway that lead towards what looked like a dump.

"Holy shit, baby spice." Cobra chuckled. But immediately stopped when she turned thunderous eyes to him.

 _Everything_ she was feeling assaulted his magic sense. Raw fear was tearing through her, a fire in the forest of her spirit. It was consuming everything in it's path.  
She was ready to explode, and Cobra wasn't equipped to deal with the fall out.

Her frustration won out, and Lucy screamed. Cobra had barely half a second to prepare himself and guard his ears as best he could before he tackled her.

Both his arms wrapped around the front of her waist, and the grass cushioned their fall. Actually, the grass cushioned his fall. Lucy landed on top of him. Again. He wasn't going to complain though. Her exposed midriff was soft and warm beneath his callused hands.

"What the hell, Cobra?!" She squealed, writhing.

"Calm your shit." He told her. "This," he waved his hand over her, "What you're doing, isn't helping."

She winced. But he rested his hand back on her hip. Her breathing hitched. Her heart rate slowed right down with the realisation that his skin was on hers. Heart flared across her cheeks.

"Look at where we are." He told her, sitting up, pulling her with him. Cobra pointed, a little ways past the dump, was the castle. From behind her, he whispered, "We're close. Okay? We'll get them."

Lucy let out a sigh of relief, leaning back.  
Cobra leaned forward at the same time, and his head ended up resting on her shoulder. They both tensed.

"How are you so calm?" Lucy whispered, her voice wobbling.

Cobra didn't know. He was always the calm one. Being able to anticipate everyone around you's every move gave him such a huge advantage, he didn't need to be constantly worrying about what _could_ happen. He blew a breath out, and goose bumps rose on her shoulder. But before he could say anything, he noticed her breathing even out. Lucy was asleep.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Loke waited several hours before waking Gray and Midnight. The last jump had nearly killed them, and drained their magic almost entirely. When colour had returned to their cheeks, and their breathing was deeper and more even, he roused them.

Gray sat, scrubbing his hands down his face.

"How many more worlds?" He asked.

"Two." Midnight drawled from across the dark, damp space in the hole under the bridge.

"Maybe." Loke reminds them, he's leaning on the archway that leads back out to the river, "We said five at most. It could be the next one. We don't know which one they're in for certain."

"Hmph." Midnight snorted, settling himself down on the makeshift cot, crossing his legs.

"And the world we definitely don't want to be in?" Gray mused.

Loke pinched the bridge of his nose. "We haven't been there yet-"

"You mean that death trap with the lightning wielding teenager was _less_ dangerous?!" Gray yelled.

"Not necessarily-"

Gray snorted in derision, Midnight tried to hide his smirk and failed.

"-but, the magic signature we're picking up in that world is massive. We've sensed it once before, and-" Loke sighed, "-and while we can't say for certain _who_ it is. We have a vague idea."

"Who." Gray said, quiet anger ate it's way up his throat.

Loke winced, it was a miniscule action, but Gray caught it, and it's interpretation to mean he was hiding something.

"Who?!" Gray roared, launching himself up, towards Loke, punching the wall next to his face.

Loke inhaled. Bracing himself, because if that's how Gray reacted to _not_ knowing, he was going to fully lose his shit when Loke told him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy woke up, warm, wrapped in something that smelled suspiciously like cloves and soap. And it was super soft. She was moving, she noticed, bobbing up and down in time with footsteps. Her face was against something firm, yet supple. She opened her eyes.

Before she had time to remove the blanket from her face, Cobra placed her down. In the time she'd been asleep, he'd carried her the entire was across the dump. As Cobra took the coat that was covering her, she looked up to see they were standing before a huge set of solid metal gates.

 _It was his coat?_ Lucy rubbed her eyes, grateful that for once, she wasn't wearing makeup. She yawned, and stretched.

"Yeah," Cobra said, shrugging back into his jacket, "You looked frozen." He glanced at Lucy as she stretched, her already long legs looking longer. The fine muscles in her arms, more pronounced in the early morning light. "Though, considering what you're trying to pass off as clothes, I'm not surprised." He smirked as she snapped one arm across her bare stomach and used her free hand to adjust her skirt, hoping it would fall a little lower than it did normally.

Normally, Lucy wouldn't think twice. Her blue and white crop top and matching skirt are par for the course in her choice of daily attire, it was comfortable and allowed for a wide range of movement. But the climate here was much different to that of Magnolia. Or most of Fiore for that matter. Even for the dead of summer, there was a bite to the air that she just couldn't shake off. Whether it was actually the weather or an ominous feeling coming from being too close to the castle, she couldn't tell. But either way, she shivered, holding her arms across her stomach.

Begrudgingly, Cobra shucked _back_ out of his coat, passing it to the blonde.

"You don't have to." Lucy said, not moving to take it.

"I do." Cobra insisted, "Like I've said before, I'm not being held accountable if something happens to you that I could have prevented."

Lucy rolled her eyes, and took the coat. She put it on. She had to roll the sleeves up, but apart from that, it fit okay. And as much as it irked him to admit, Cobra couldn't help but notice how _good_ she looked in it. Her hair scraped into a messy bun, no make up, his coat, she looked like a woman who meant business, and there was no doubt in his mind that she was ready to wage war on whoever lay beyond the gates before them.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"MARD!" Natsu screams. "Come out here and fight me!" He's breathless, weak. But resilient. Wendy was asleep in the cell next to him, exhausted from crying, fighting against her restraints. The cell on his other side contained Romeo, his magic burnt out from trying to use it on his shackles, the smell singed Natsu's nostrils. "You coward!"

Laughter from the other side of the bars riled Natsu up further, he strained against the chains holding him in place.

"Why are you doing this?" Natsu growled towards the face half hidden in shadows.

"Because," Mard stepped into the bare light, cast by a single sconce on the wall opposite Natsu's cell, "I am a King here."

"So?" Natsu spat.

"Arthur had Guinevere," He counted a list on his fingers, "Zeus had Hera," He stepped closer still to the cage that held the dragon slayer, "And Hades had Persephone."

Natsu tried so hard not to let his confusion show, but he must have made a poor effort. Mard Geer wrapped his fingers around the bars. "I _will_ have Lucy Heartfilia."

"So this whole thing," Natsuwas thinking out loud, piecing this ridiculous puzzle together, "The kidnappings, all of it, was so you could have Lucy, as your wife?"

Mard's lips twitched upward into the most evil version of a smile. He explained, in excruciating detail, how he knew that no matter what he did, Fairy Tail would get involved. But stealing children would be the quickest way. And Lucy would never pass up the chance to rescue the young sky maiden.

It was unfortunate that Natsu had been the first through his trap, but that was easily rectified, given how out of it he was upon his landing.

"I have one last thing standing in my way, but my plan is coming to fruition, and soon-" He inhaled deeply, "-soon, she will be mine."

Curiosity got the best of Natsu, "What else is standing in your way?"

"Lucy crossed over with someone." Mard's expression darkened. Natsu raised an eyebrow. "A red haired man. With one eye. He's helping her towards me, unsuspecting fools."  
Natsu burst out laughing. For all his pain, for all the suffering of being drained of his magic, he couldn't help but laugh. "You have _no idea._ "

Assuming Natsu had finally lost his senses, Mard slunk back into the shadows, none the wiser of what was heading his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeew. This has been a ride so far, right?  
> I haven't got long left of this, I don't think.  
> Leave a comment, let me know what you think!!  
> Thank you all for the lovely comments and Kudos so far <3 <3 <3


	14. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra get company, and start devising a plan.

Virgo popped up, scaring the ever loving shit out of Gray and Midnight as they were preparing themselves for another jump. She came right up on the river bank, unfazed by both the smell and the several barges transporting bodies. From where, they didn't want to know.

"Big brother," She spoke directly to Loke, not wasting any time, "Her signature is stronger. She must have gotten rest, built her magic power back up."

Midnight was listening from near the wall, as far away from the water as he could be while still being in range of the others. Gray was braver, skipping rocks on the surface of the river. 

"Great," Loke said, urgency staining his face, "Where is she?"

Virgo winced, "The Labyrinth, big brother."

"Well shit." Loke replied.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cobra sensed Lucy's nerves. Despite how she stood, feet apart in that fighting stance, shoulders back, chin high, she was shitting herself. He took her hand.

But before she could react, lightning erupted around them. The fright caused her to drop Cobra's hand, as if the lightning came from them.

Gray landed at Lucy's feet, his face ashen. She bent to pick him up, but heard a gurgling that had her jumping back before he sprayed her legs with vomit. Thankfully, he missed.

"How do you even have anything left?" Loke's lip curled in disgust as he stepped into view.

Midnight was next, ungracefully somersaulting into the wall close to Cobra.

"Loke!" Lucy squealed, jumping into her spirit's arms for a hug she really needed. "How are you here?" She touched her hip where her keys should have been, guilt coursed through her veins, setting her on fire. "Oh my God." She buried her head in Loke's shoulder.

"How did you not notice?" Cobra asked as he hauled Midnight to his feet.

"We've only been here a day!" Lucy cried, letting Loke go, moving to help Gray get up.

"A day?" The ice mage said as he took her hand.

"You have been gone for nearly a week," Midnight managed to breathe the words out, Cobra was holding him up, he looked utterly miserable. A sheen of sweat glistened on his face, he looked ready to blow chunks all over the floor.

"Don't you dare." Cobra's voice rumbled, low and threatening.

"A week?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"This isn't technically another dimension," Loke told them, "The Labyrinth exists in the space between worlds, like the spirit realm."

He explained to them that Mard Geer, and the other demons of Tartaros, are spirits. Like himself and the spirits for the keys Lucy held. Similar existences with far worse intentions.  
"It's why they never died." Loke finished.

"And why I can't hear his soul." Cobra conceded.

"So," Lucy tore her gaze from Loke, to stare at Cobra, "You can't hear Leo?" Gray moaned, and her attention turned back to him, pushing his sweat soaked hair back from his face.

Cobra shook his head, hoisting Midnight up higher. "Or the others. It's weird. But probably a good thing." He didn't need (or want) to know what was going on in their heads.   
Especially Loke's, with the way he was staring at Lucy. He bared his teeth at the Lion spirit, until Loke stopped undressing her with his eyes.

Loke coughed nervously, clearing his throat.

"I'm okay." Gray said to Lucy, unwinding her arm from his waist.

"Are you sure?" Concern pulled at the corners of her mouth and eyes, but she let him go. Gray was stronger than he looked, and she knew that better than most. He nodded, concealing his shaking hands.

"I want to say we should rest a while," Lucy looked over at where Cobra was still supporting Midnight, "But we only have a few hours left-"

"And I can hear Salamander screaming from here." Cobra frowned. He was irritated by his concern. But knowing it would upset Lucy for him to be fileted, somehow made him feel bad too. When Lucy returned his frown, though, he smirked. "He's fine, baby spice, chill."

Midnight gave Cobra a _look_. Which Cobra shut down with the barest shake of his head. He knew full well he'd get the third degree from his best friend when this shit show was over, but right now, he just couldn't deal.

"What's the situation then?" Gray asked, straightening up. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he did any other day. Only he and Cobra knew how awful he truly felt.

Lucy filled them in. The time skips, the floors randomly falling out from beneath them, Mard Geer being behind this whole thing, the fact she knew this place from a book.

"Not that it helps," She huffed, "The whole point is that it's never the same. The only thing I can guarantee is that there is a fight waiting for us behind that gate."

"It helps a bit." Loke reassured her. "At least you have a basic idea of how this whole thing goes."

"I mean, I guess." Lucy bit her lip. Cobra had to look away. Just them being here was making her second guess herself. Sure, she'd gotten frustrated over the past day (week? Whatever.) He slid his gaze back, intent behind his indigo stare.

"You know what's behind these gates." Cobra told her. Holding his arm up, indicating the goliath, brass monstrosity currently separating them from whatever fight was coming. Lucy nodded. "That's more than we know. What's the plan?"

"We're bigger than them." Lucy said.

"Them?" Gray and Midnight asked in unison.

"Goblins," Lucy carried on, "We can push back quite easily, given that we use magic."

"Push back where?" Loke asked. Lucy's face turned sheepish. "Not to Mard." Loke's eyes widened. He'd seen what their last fight did. What she gave up. How her heart broke.  
-  
Cobra watched the exchange. Half listening to Lucy's plan. He'd get it as they went along later. Right now, he was paying attention to her soul. How it burst into life at being given control of the situation, how she untangled her thoughts, like cables, connecting ends to one another, making everything fit.

Until Loke said his name. Mard. Once again, he heard her stutter. A memory swam to the surface, bubbling, struggling. Her heart broke, again, fresh fissures over a scar not quite healed. Something in the melody of her mind sang out of tune. For the briefest of moments, Lucy was back in that water. Refusing, denying, bargaining, breaking.

But as quick as she started drowning in her memories, she was back. Again, defiance shone bright in her caramel eyes, her jaw was set in indignation and she told Loke straight.

"Yes. To Mard." She turned to Gray, "How is you magic?"

"Not great," He grimaced, Gray was drained. In every way. His stomach was empty, he was exhausted, read to break down in tears, and his magic was fumes at this point. "But I've dealt with worse."

Lucy wasn't convinced, but she nodded, slowly. "Okay. Midnight?" She turned to the reflector mage, who, instead of answering her, put his hand out in a thumbs down and blew a raspberry at her.

Cobra elbowed him in the ribs.

"Fuck you, Erik." Midnight sulked, rubbing his side.

Cobra heard Lucy tuck his name away in a pocket for later, but she carried on.

"Okay. Looks like it's down to you two." She glanced between Loke and Cobra. "I haven't got my keys and these guys," she inclined her head to both Gray and Midnight respectively, "Are out until they can actually build their stamina back up."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Mard lounged, one foot hooked over the arm of his osseous throne. He was deep in thought. replaying his showdown with the celestial spirit king. It was then that he had decided to have Lucy for himself. Her grit had won him over, her power had kept him wanting more. She was so desperately supressed by the Fairies. He wanted to unleash her. See what she was _truly_ capable of when she wasn't being second guessed. By herself, and those around her.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Franmalth burst into the room. Dropping quickly into a bow as Mard lifted his eyebrow.

"It's the girl." He said, rising, breathing hard as though he had ran to share the news.

"What of her?" Mard asked, still languidly draped across his throne.

"She's here-" he choked on his words "-in the city."

Mard's face split into a foul grin. "Good."

"She's-" Franmalth choked again, "-She's not alone-" he swallowed "-sire."

Mard sat up, beckoning his vile minion forward.

Franmalth hesitated before approaching the dais. The second he was within reach, Mard grabbed his collar, pressed his forehead up against the smaller one's nose and snarled.

"Who else." When Franmalth hesitated yet again, stammering and croaking, Mard roared directly into his face. "WHO. ELSE?!"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Midnight, Gray and Loke went through the gate first.

Loke wasted no time in destroying their first obstacle, a behemoth robotic guard, with a regulus punch. He sent it flying, clean across the city. It soared until it was little more than a glint over the horizon.

As they made a move to carry on, Cobra took Lucy by the wrist. The small band of flesh still left exposed by the sleeves of his coat. She looked down. By now, she was used to his callused skin on hers. But it was the way he brushed his thumb over the skin just before it was covered, that made her realise there was more to it than him needing to talk to her.

"What?" She bit out impatiently. She wanted this over with, to have Natsu and Wendy and Romeo back. She wanted to beat Mard Geer to within an inch of his life, to see him suffer. She wanted to be the one to _make_ him suffer.

Cobra, amused by her train of thought, smirked. Then gave up what he actually wanted to say, instead telling her "Be careful out there, Lucy." He let go and went on ahead of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fully aware that this is lacking in the whole CoLu department. It's coming. I promise.  
> Thank you all for taking precious time out to read my drivel. Honestly, every hit, kudos, comment and bookmark makes my day!  
> Let me know what you think!! <3


	15. Should you need us.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The castle, beyond the goblin city, lies in wait. Lucy and her misfit team make their way to their end goal, not letting anything get in their way.

Lucy snorted softly.

"I'm always careful!" She yelled after him, jogging to catch up.

Cobra snorted right back.

"Yeah, right." He rolled his eye "You're always getting into dodgy situations."

Lucy huffed, crossing her arms as she kept pace beside him. "So? That doesn't mean I'm not careful." She cast her eyes sidewards, watching Cobra as he tried to come up with a response.

She giggled when he couldn't skipping ahead of him with more energy than he'd seen her with this past day. Week. _Whatever._ She was glowing, it was unreal. Where she'd been twitchy and aggravated before, the presence of just a couple more people had brought her back into herself. Cobra wasn't sure if he should be offended. But he realised that everything that was going on was insane. Maybe just having Gray around brought some semblance of normalcy. Like this was just another mission. One where she wasn't alone with a poison dragon slayer that she was terrified of.

Though, he'd noticed, that wasn't so much the case now. After just a day (he was giving up on the whole "it's been a week" thing. It was wrecking his head), she was more comfortable around him. Not less scared, she'd pushed that down, it's was still there, just hidden. Maybe it was out of necessity. He had spent enough time in a real labyrinth, he didn't need to go poking around the one in her head. Or maybe she was actually happier around him now.

 _Fuck it._ He pushed past the barriers he'd set up around his own mind, protecting him from the utter shit storm that was Lucy Heartfilia's mind and soul.  
His subconscious was sucked into a kaleidoscope of memories and music. Of hopes and dreams and rainbows and all kinds of insane impossibilities. A sparkling, nostalgic part of her was filled with thoughts of a time when she felt warm and safe, protected. Binge watching TV shows, eating pizza on the sofa. Striped pants on the floor of her room, tangled with her shirt. The scent of cinnamon and glowing green eyes. A wild smile and a wilder love. Something she missed but knew she was better off without. A time she remembered fondly, with a sad smile.

He moved past it, diving deeper, past everything about Tartaros, past the grand magic games, until he found a part that was constantly burying thoughts about him.

Some deep seated part of her was thinking about him, _a lot_ , and she didn't even notice on a conscious level.

_What in the ass?_

Thoughts swirled around him, like a tornado of words and sounds.

_He has a nice smile._

_His teeth are_ really _straight._

_He's warm._

_He smells like cloves._

_His butt is_ really _nice. No. Definitely not, Heartfilia. Do. Not. Ever._

_His arms are nice though._

_And his skin... Oh Lord, I just wanna drink him. No._ Bad. _Bad Lucy. Down._

Cobra snapped himself out of it. "Well. Shit." He muttered quietly to himself. _Shouldn't have done that._

He forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He'd have to unpack all of _that_ later. Apparently mind diving is a fantastic way to kill time, because while he'd been submerged in the warped pools of Lucy's soul, they'd arrived at the outskirts of the city.

"This is a slum." Leo stated as they'd all come to a stop at the edge, "Not a city."

He wasn't wrong, the house were primitive at best, hewn from rocks and mud. Windows were nothing more than holes, and doors were few and far between, seemingly only existing on the houses that at least had curtains.

"What a shit hole." Cobra murmured.

"You can say that again." Gray agreed.

"It might be a shit hole," Lucy said, "But at least one of these homes has to have food." Her point was punctuated by a chorus of growling tummies. None of them had eaten in a while. Gray and Midnight were still feeling a little green, but they knew that if they were going to build any power back up, they'd have to buck up and chow down.

Thankfully, they weren't looking long, the first house they came to seemed to have been vacated in the middle of a party. There was an entire buffet laid out in the tiny kitchen. Lucy would have peed her pants laughing at the guys crouching, but she was too busy stuffing her maw with miniature quiche and entire blocks of cheese.

"Don't be fooled by her small stature," Gray said, noticing Cobra staring at her, eye wide in astonishment, "She can give Natsu a run for his money when it comes to putting food away." He bit into a boiled egg like an apple and guzzled down water like he'd not even seen food in weeks.

Cobra just nodded and looked for anything that might be tainted. His magic was low and the only way he could build it back up was to eat poison. He assumed that there wouldn't be bottles of bleach lying around in a room where the floor was packed dirt, so he settled for some questionable rice. It tasted horrid, but he could feel the poison getting to work within minutes.

When everyone was full to bursting, they carried on through the city. The castle loomed, ominous, as they got closer and closer. Rust coloured thunderheads bloomed behind it, making it look like a scene from a blood soaked nightmare.

"It's too quiet." Lucy stopped, making them all pause.

"Hmm." Cobra agreed, cocking his head to hear better. The others used the few minutes rest to strategise.

As they weighed their options, going over their plans, a projectile flew overhead, shattering on a wall nearby.

"We need to move. Now!" Cobra instructed.

Before anyone could get very far, they found themselves surrounded. Goblins came out in force, from behind rocks and buildings. Most in full armour, some mounted on dragon-horse hybrids. Quiet lasted for all of 3 seconds before one barked a war cry, and chaos erupted.

Lucy and the others were surrounded, goblins charged from all sides in the hundreds.

"Gray!" Lucy called over the din.

"I've got it!" He posed, crouching, hands in position, "Ice make, lance!"

The small creatures went flying in one direction where Gray attacked on her left. To her right, more coursed through the air bathed in a golden glow from Loke's regulus punch. In front, tens of them started flailing, screaming. They retreated, walking into objects and buildings, still crying out. Cobra smirked knowingly at Midnight.

Lucy, motivated by her friends determination, took to kicking the few within her reach. They were pushing the goblins back, towards the castle, advancing towards their goal.  
Though as they moved closer, Lucy noticed Cobra hanging back. When she looked, as they were approaching the stairs leading to the entrance of the castle, his face split into his trademark cruel smirk. His fingers and arms transformed, purple and red scales where there had been caramel skin, claws in place of finger nails.

Purple clouds billowed between his teeth as he nodded at Lucy. She nodded back, yelling to the others. "We need to get in, now!" She ran for the big oak door, Gray and Midnight on her heels, Loke already reaching for the handle.

They managed to get in before Cobra's poison could affect them. Screaming came from outside, followed by banging on the door they were leaning on, catching their breath. Lucy sagged, dropping to the floor. A few minutes went by, the screaming and banging stopped. The four of them sighed.

When Lucy looked up, she realised they were in the throne room. Gray pulled her up, and they wandered the small area. Taking it in. It was another place vacated mid celebration. Scones still burned, albeit dimly. Clothes and shoes were strewn everywhere. A fire pit in the middle of the room smoked slightly as though recently extinguished. And it was eerily silent, especially compared to the ruckus they'd faced outside.

Banging on the door, higher up this time, made them all jump.

"It's me!" A familiar, gruff voice called out.

Midnight rolled his eyes, strolling over to the door. He pulled it open, and Cobra strolled in, brushing his arms down as the scales slid back into his skin. It should have creeped Lucy out, but it didn't. She was curious, found herself wanting to touch his arm, but she restrained herself.

She did, however, pull his coat off, and hand it back to him.

"Thanks, baby spice." He said, shrugging back into it. Lucy smiled, silently thanking him for the use of it.

"What now?" Gray mused.

Lucy looked around. Just as she'd thought, there was a set of stairs close to the throne.

"I have to go that way." She pointed.

"Let's go then." Loke started towards the stone stair case.

"No." Lucy said, stopping all of them as they made their way over, they all looked back at her, questions in their eyes. "I have to do it on my own. That's the way Sarah did it in the book."

"You're not going alone." Gray all but growled.

Midnight crossed his arms, lazily assessing the situation unfolding in front of him.

"I'm inclined to agree with Gray, princess. I can't let you go on your own." Loke added.

Lucy looked to Cobra. Cobra who had helped her trust her own instincts over the short time they'd been stuck alone. She realised he'd only helped her when she really desperately needed it. When something she couldn't hear was coming or when she had her panic attack. Apart from that, he let her deal with it. Trusted that she knew the situation better than him, given her familiarity with this world, even if only for having read about it in a bed time story.

He nodded. Barely. Lucy stuck her chin up, straightening her back.

" I am going alone. I have to. Yes, Mard Geer is horrifying. Yes I am tired and without my keys. But I have. To. Do. This." Lucy told them, they were silent. Stunned. "You guys go find the others while I have him distracted. Get everyone out." She turned to Loke, "Take them through the spirit realm back to Fairy Tail.

"But Lucy," Loke protested, "There's so many of them, I can't-" Lucy cut him off.

"Then get help from the others. You have to get them home," she pleaded with her spirit, begging him with her eyes, he was the only one who could get them back.

"Come on," Cobra encouraged them, heading the other direction. "Salamander is this way, I can hear him."

Lucy thanked him, mouthing the words as Cobra shepherded them through another archway.

"Shout if you need us." He said.

"I will." She promised.

When they were gone, she psyched herself up, and went for the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually a lot quicker with the updates, I'm sorry!
> 
> I also won't be posting for about a week, maybe? I'm doing a LOT of hours in work this week, I have a lot of stuff going on in my personal life, so writing is going on the back burner. Not permanently. Because it's actually a massive stress relief.  
> But I am close to burning out, I'm forgoing sleep to get writing done, which has been making me ill, and probably making my writing terrible, so I'm spending more time editing. Which I hate.
> 
> Anyway, I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter, and the wait for the next one or two.  
> But thank you all for reading, commenting, kudos-ing? etc. <3<3<3


	16. Expiclavit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra find out exactly why they're here.

Cobra decided that splitting up was the best option, since the captives were being kept in two separate wings of the castle. What he didn't tell Gray and Loke, was that himself and Midnight were heading to where only Salamander was being kept. Because for whatever reason, Mard was keeping him apart from the others.

"So." Midnight started.

"No." Cobra cut off Midnight, following his train of thought. Now was not the time to talk about the time he'd spent with Lucy.

"Don't 'no' me you asshole." Midnight bit back.

Cobra stopped, sighing, and pressed his finger and thumb to the inner corners of his eyes. "Can we please just get Salamander and get us all out of here?"

"Will you tell me what's going on later?" Midnight drawled, crossing his arms and leaning on the wall next to one of the rotten sconces.

Cobra just stared at his friend. Here they were, in a dingy as all hell dungeon, in a world that wasn't even technically classed as a world, about to cause some real shit for themselves in the form of pissing off Mard freakin Geer, and all Midnight wanted, was gossip.

"You're such a fucking girl." Cobra growled, storming past Midnight, deeper into the dungeons.

"That wasn't a no." Midnight smirked, then yawned.

Cobra, from ten feet ahead now, put his middle finger up. "It also wasn't a yes."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Climbing the stairs took Lucy entirely too long. But it gave her time to think about her plan. And over think about Cobra touching her wrist. Unfortunately for her, she spent more time doing the latter, and not enough time on the former. Because she reached the top of the stairs with no plan, wondering what it would be like to kiss the poison dragon slayer. If she'd even actually _want_ to kiss him.

She twisted her face. "No. Nope. Nuh. Nope. Not at all."

Lucy shook herself. Physically and mentally. _I can do this._ She couldn't waste any more time. Not when she was so close.

She stepped through a sandstone archway, straight onto a floating platform that over looked a room resembling Escher's House of Stairs. Though with far less bugs. And more-  
"Wendy?" Lucy squinted. In the middle of the mess of steps and archways to nowhere, sat the blue haired dragon slayer. Staring into nothing, feet dangling into a giant hole in the floor. She was so out of it, she didn't react to Lucy.

"She can't hear you." That liquid silk voice chilled Lucy to her core.

"Mard." She snarled, turning to face him. "What have you done?"

His self satisfied smirk irked her so completely, she launched herself at him. Through him. He dissipated into nothing. She balanced, precariously, on an edge she didn't realise was there.

Laughter rang out, in her mind, off the walls, she couldn't tell. But it frustrated Lucy so bad that she roared into the room.

Wendy stood. Walking to the closest set of stairs. They elevated sideways, physically impossible to climb, but Lucy watched as she did. Like something from a horror film, Wendy was ascending the limestone staircase, that jutted out at a 90 degree angle from the wall opposite her. As she reached the platform, Lucy tried to formulate. Looking around to figure out how to get to her.

Lucy settled on the stairs next to her. Physics still seemed to apply to her, she could only go up or down.

For longer than Lucy was prepared for, she ran up and down stairs, through archways that led her to different levels as though she were walking through portals. Lucy was chasing Wendy, who seemed entirely out of it. Like she wasn't in control of her own body.

Bait. That's all she was. For all Lucy knew, that wasn't even Wendy. As the realisation registered in Lucy's mind, the walls started coming apart. Separating like it was made from dreams.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Cobra and Midnight finally found the Fairy Tail cells, they'd walked past at least 15 empty cells before stopping in front of Natsu's. It hadn't been a minute too soon. Cobra was more than finished with Midnight's attempts to get him to talk about Lucy. And Midnight was having far too much fun being the instigator in a wind up war, for once.

"Salamander!" Cobra whisper shouted through the bars at the unconscious fire dragon slayer. He banged on the bars. Once. Twice. He shouted again but nothing worked.  
Until a noise echoed along the stone walls, reverberating through his skull. Midnight had whistled. A noise Cobra hated, considering how high the pitch was. It made him feel like his brain was going to leak out of his overly sensitive ears.

Apparently, he wasn't the only dragon slayer who didn't like whistling, because Natsu woke up.

"Never do that again." Cobra turned his head to bark at Midnight, who was leaned back against a wall. Arms crossed, a smug little smile on his face.

"Worked though." Midnight said.

Cobra rolled his eye.

"Salamander." Cobra tried again, this time inciting a response.

"Cobra?" He wondered. All the light was behind him, so he couldn't be entirely sure just who it was silhouetted outside his cell.

"No, the fucking tooth fairy. Are you dead?" Cobra deadpanned.

"Don't think so?" Natsu did his best to check himself over, given his current position. He was being held in the middle of the room. Magic restricting shackles on his wrists and ankles keeping him anchored, with chains bolted to the walls.

"Okay. Don't move." Cobra instructed him, and began to concentrate. He sent out the smallest tendrils of poison. All three of them watched as they wended their way through the air, towards the metal bindings around Natsu's extremities.

The poison ate through the shackles. Slowly.

"Can't you go any faster?" Midnight drawled, yawning.

"Shut. Up." Cobra ground out. Sweat broke out on his forehead. It took far more concentration to focus his magic on one small point, rather than letting it consume everything in it's path. It was draining. Cobra wasn't sure if he'd get the others, but Salamander was the most powerful, most useful. Lucy's best hope.

And that's what Cobra needed.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy was freefalling through the crumbling building. She floated towards the ground, like a feather suspended by an updraft that was slowly receding. As she got closer to the ground, fear coiled, tight in her belly. She wasn't as ready for this confrontation as she thought she was.

Her feet made contact with the paving slabs. Mard materialised in front of her. Slowly enough that she wasn't startled.

"You're quicker than I gave you credit for." He drawled.

"You've made the mistake of underestimating Fairy Tail once before." Lucy growled back at him. Watching as he strolled around her, his eyes trailing the length of her, the distance between them. He reached to stroke her arm. Lucy pulled away.

"You're not Fairy Tail, though." He sneered, stopping right in front of Lucy again, one arm across his chest, his other hand tapping his chin.

"It's not just me here." Lucy told him.

"Oh, sweet girl. Yes it is." His lips curled into a wicked, sharp grin.

Lucy realised her mistake, it _was_ just her here now. She insisted they separate and played right into Mard's hands. He had her alone. And completely vulnerable, she still didn't have her keys. _Cobra was right._ Because here she was, again, in another situation that could have probably been avoided. She groaned internally. She still didn't know what the endgame was here. Well, if Mard wanted a 'sweet girl', she would keep playing. And stall for time until someone came to help her. _Again._

"What do you want from me?" Lucy stammered, whispering.

His eyes flicked to meet hers.

"You."

"Me?" Lucy was stunned.

"I've wanted you since I met you."

"And you think kidnapping an ass load of kids is the way to win my heart?" Lucy shook with supressed laughter.

"Not your heart, dear." Mard licked his lips, and Lucy grimaced. "Your soul."

She must have made a _what in the ever loving fuck_ face, because he explained.

"You. Your determination, moxy, that dark little part of yourself that tells you when to rebel, that _devil,_ " His eyes shone, "on your shoulder. You'd be a perfect fit here."  
Lucy still couldn't speak. She was frozen in place as she fully understood exactly what he was telling her.

"You, and the others you brought with you, are all fantastic candidates for transformation."

"Into what?" Lucy was finally able to spit out.

"My new demons, obviously." Wicked humour glinted in his stare, and Lucy was starting to panic.

Of course. Jackal and the others would be incapacitated for a long time, recovering from what Fairy Tail did to them. And if Mard was still set on Zeref induced world domination, he would need minions.

"No fucking way." Lucy spat. "Where are my friends?!"

Mard laughed, maniacally, as Lucy started to shrink into herself.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cobra collapsed against the bars as Natsu fell to the ground in front of him. Breaking his chains had taken too long, and had taken too much out of him.

He reached back, hauling himself up on the cool metal as Midnight breezed past him to pick Natsu up.

Slinging the fire breathers arm around his neck, Midnight asked "You good, man?" A brief flash of concern in his ruby eyes as he watched Cobra take stuttering breaths.

"Peachy." Cobra managed to get out, and inclined his head in the direction they came from. "Let's go."

They couldn't have gotten more the fifteen feet away from Natsu's cell when Cobra heard rumbling from behind them.

"Not again," Cobra groaned, loud enough only for himself to hear. Louder, he shouted "Run!" As he shoved Natsu and Midnight away from the giant metallic... _thing_ , coming at them at top speed. Blades and shears span, threatening to shred them all to pieces if they couldn't get out of the way.

They ran, bolting past where the staircase they came up should have been, replaced by a new stone wall.

But up ahead was cut off by bars. No way past.

"There!" Midnight yelled, pointing at what Cobra could see was a false wall.

Setting Natsu down, Midnight kicked it. Cobra shoved. It wouldn't budge. The thing was getting closer.

"Harder!" Cobra snarled, looking back to where the thing was now only 30 feet away.

A kick.

20 feet.

Cobra grunted, shoving hard with his shoulder.

10 feet.  
They fell through. Midnight yanked Natsu into the dusty alcove, and they watched as the contraption that just nearly killed them barrelled past them.

The back was set up like a giant hamster wheel, powered by two of the creatures they had taken down in the city.

Midnight fell back. "This is too much." He wiped a hand down his face.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu rasped. He really had been screaming. For a while by how his voice sounded. Like he'd swallowed glass. And sandpaper that had been set on fire.

_Fire._

"She's fine." Cobra pulled himself, then Natsu up. Midnight got himself up, brushing off the dust and the dirt on his skinny jeans.

Cobra poked his head out of the hole in the wall, looing both ways before grabbing a sconce off the opposite wall.

"Here," He said, shoving the flaming beacon in Natsu's face. "Eat."

Natsu wasted no time in sucking down the flame. He was starved. And while a small flame couldn't make a huge difference in his magic, it woke him up enough for the light to return to his eyes.

"Mard Geer is here." He told them as he smacked his lips.

Cobra looked at Midnight, indicating with his eyes and chin. Midnight left the room for a minute, returning with a couple more sconces. Natsu ate.

"We know." Cobra said, "What we don't know is _why_ any of this has happened."

Midnight reignited the first sconce, passing the flame back and forth, over and over between the three so Natsu could power up again.

"It's all a trap for Lucy." Natsu explained between bites, "Mard wants her for his new demon army."

Cobra tensed, ever so slightly. But Midnight saw the muscles in his jaw flicker, the spark in his eyes. But he let Natsu continue, how he took Romeo to be with the other children because he's not powerful enough, but Wendy is being used as bait. He welled up, his words catching in his throat, but he continued.

"And now he's decided we're all perfect." He looked at Cobra, "Especially the dragon slayers."

It took everything in Cobra's power not to flip his shit and scream. To not go full dragon force and tear the castle to the ground. He knew being smart was the better option here. Midnight was nearly back up to his full potential, his magic being vital in any plan of attack. Natsu was getting there, slowly. And he would have to just find something to eat.

And then, they would find Lucy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I wasn't going to write but I lied and I am NOT sorry.  
> BUT I am nearly done with this. 2 maybe 3 more chapters.  
> Thank you all again for keeping up with this absolute trash. <3


	17. Lights will guide you home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy faces off against Mard. It doesn't go how she planned.

Lucy took a chance. She saw an opening, a chink in Mard's armour, and went for it. She tried to kick him when he wasn't paying attention. But of course, he was. Some deep intuition and ESP allowed him to realise what was going on, and he grabbed her ankle.

"Are you really going to make me do this the hard way?" He smiled, sadly, pushing her leg away.

"Well I'm not just going to _let_ you do it, am I?" Lucy shouted at him, spinning into another kick, aiming for his jaw.

Mard laughed as he batted away her attempts of an attack. Kick after kick, punch after punch, and none landed.

Lucy was exhausted, sweat dripping down her neck, her back. Her legs ached from the effort, her wrists bruised from Mard's defence. She leaned, briefly, to catch her breath. But that's all it took. Mard's face changed instantly, from annoyingly serene to brutal and unforgiving.

A crack resounded in Lucy's skull as she was punched, knuckles glancing off her cheekbone. Cold stone floor came up to meet her, her hands snapped out before she broke her nose.

A sharp pain bloomed in her ribs as she was kicked, forcing her to roll over and cough. His boot met her chin, and she bit down, hard, on her tongue. Spitting blood, she tried to get up, but Mard grabbed her face.

"Why can't you just play along?" He punched her again.

Lucy's arms trembled with the effort of pushing herself up, her vision swimming. "I played your game." She wheezed.

Mard growled in frustration. Kicking her backward by her sternum.

Her head hit the floor with a crunch. She stared up, every inch of her screaming in agony. The metallic tang of her own blood singing her nose, coating her tongue. She looked up into Mard's face, and smiled her teeth crimson and sticky. He pulled her up by her hair, the ends stained and muddy. Her smile didn't falter as spat in his face. Blood and saliva slid down his face, off his chin, landing between them.

"You wont win." She laughed, the coughed.

He smashed his fist into her nose, and the world went black.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cobra, Natsu and Midnight were at the bottom of the stairs in the throne room.

"Something's not right." Cobra said, stopping.

"What?" Midnight asked, as Natsu's brows knitted in both confusion and concern.

"Lucy. I could hear her, she was fine." Something other than malicious intent pulled down at the corners of his mouth, "She's fighting. She's on her own with Mard."

That was all it took for the three of them to run, nearly flying up the stairs. Hundreds of stone blocks, in never ending circles passed beneath them all in a blur as they raced towards where Lucy fought for her life. And Wendys, Natsu's, Romeo's, all the children taken from their villages.

Until she wasn't.

Cobra heard it all. Her unending resolve. Her fear, her love. Her hope.

_You wont win_

He heard it. Then he heard nothing.

His lungs burned with exhaustion as he reached the top, Midnight and Natsu somewhere behind him but he didn't care.

All he cared about right now was in a pool of her own blood in front of him.

Everything went still. For once, all Cobra could hear was the beating of his own heart. Slow. Hard. Every pulse a reminder that this was real. Darkness crept in the corners of his vision, it was like looking at her through a telescope. Close and faraway at the same time. Midnight put his hand on his shoulder, Cobra turned to look and it was as though he was moving his neck through honey. Everything had slowed down. Until Natsu saw her.

"Lucy!" 

Everything snapped back into focus. The floating walls, the candles dancing overhead. Noises from the souls that surrounded him. And Mard. Still laughing, knuckles still bloody. Blood and spit marbled on his cheek.

Flames roared past Cobra, ice flew from his other side.

Gray and Loke had arrived.

"Get her!" Loke screamed. Cobra didn't need telling twice. He crouched down next to Lucy, picking her limp form off the floor, her skin cold from where it had been on the stone.  
Before he knew what was happening, Cobra was blinded. His skin was on fire, his nerves crippled by a tearing sensation. His limbs were pulled in every direction but he still had hold of Lucy.

Sounds of fear and blasts of colour screamed past him. Lights hurtled past at dizzying speed and then his feet were on solid ground again.

He could smell beer and wood polish. Voiced screamed, both in and out of his head.

Cobra was back in Fairy Tail, just inside the main doors. Lucy's body still in his arms. It took every last ounce of his strength to keep himself upright, but he managed it. Snarling at everyone who came close. To everyone else, he was just being Cobra. Cold, uncaring. Carrying Lucy because, for whatever reason, the others weren't back. He made his way towards the back, staring straight towards his goal, Makorovs office.

A pink haired older woman appeared, crooking her finger at him, beckoning.

He walled his mind off as best he could. Though being drained, he struggled. He didn't want the probing stares from everyone in the guild to turn into probing questions.

"The infirmary is this way." The woman said, leading him around the back of the bar, up a second set of stairs.

-

"Well done, my boy." The master praised him.

"For what?" Cobra spat, frustration and something he assumed was guilt eating at him, "I brought her back, barely alive, a broken jaw, nose and ribs. She's in a coma and I get a 'well done'? What a load of shit. " He huffed, crossing his arms as he threw himself into the armchair in Makorovs office.

"But you got her home." Jellal offered.

"Exactly." Makorov added.

"Whatever." Cobra stormed out. Wanting to get some fresh air. But instead, found himself stood at the end of Lucy's bed.

She looked like a broken doll. Butterfly stitches held the top of her nose, the white of them a horrific contrast to the purple-black bruise bloomed under her eyes and over her nose. The freckles that had been there, drowned in a sea of ink. Her jaw was no better, a boot print was still visible where she'd been kicked so hard, three of her teeth had shattered.  
She'd needed stitches in her tongue, 6 of her ribs were broken, her left wrist was sprained. The list of injuries went on and on. Porlyusica, the pink haired woman, hadn't let him stay while she worked on Lucy. That had been yesterday. Porlyusica had cleared the infirmary, chasing a hungover Cana out, and subsequently, kicking Cobra out too.

"She's not out of the woods yet." She had told him when he went back a few hours later. "She's in an induced coma. All of her injuries would be overwhelming if she were conscious, even with pain medication."

He frowned at the memory, there was no way of knowing when she'd wake up.

A commotion downstairs interrupted Cobra's thoughts, and he made his way to the bar.

Loke was back. Accompanied by a very poorly looking Natsu, Gray and Midnight, holding Wendy and Romeo respectively.

-

After Loke made sure Wendy and Romeo were settled with Porlyusica, and checking in on Lucy, he bid everyone a farewell and returned to the spirit world.  
Angel, who still had Lucy's keys, handed them to Natsu. "I'm glad you're all okay," She said, "But what the hell happened?" She asked the question everyone had been thinking, but was too frightened to ask Cobra.

So Natsu explained.

After Loke sent Cobra back with Lucy, Mard went on a full rampage. They couldn't quite track him down to fully incapacitate him, but Gray got a few lucky shots in, freezing him while Natsu destroyed the castle. When Gray was worn out, Midnight somehow cornered him, trapping him in a nightmare.

"All we heard before Loke dragged us through the portal was 'I'll be good, Dad.' Then screaming." Midnight shrugged, while most of the guild stared at him, wide eyed and a little terrified.

"What happened to all the other children?" Lisanna asked, changing the subject.

"Loke had freed all of them, there were probably 20 of them. He took them to the spirit realm, and asked the others to take them home." Gray shrugged, picking at the salad Mira had put infront of him, Juvia was sat next to him, her eyes never leaving him.

"At least it's over." Erza said.

"Yeah," Gray snorted, "For now."

The fact his words didn't incite a reaction led Cobra to believe he thought them, and he couldn't quite shake the feeling that the icicle was right. But for now, at least, it _was_ over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


	18. Exsomnis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra keeps watch while Lucy recovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's not exactly graphic, but I briefly describe extubation in this chapter. Which is the removal of a breathing tube. Just incase anyone is a bit squee about medical procedures.

Every single day, Cobra sat by Lucy's bed. Reading, mostly, because the sun came in right over the chair in her window.

Jellal had gone on with the others, returning to visit and check up. But Cobra stayed. Keeping vigil. Natsu and Happy came by every day, as well as Erza, Gray, Wendy, pretty much everyone. Trickling in and out in groups or just one by one.

Some brought flowers, but they would wither, and be replaced. Cobra couldn't see the point, but whatever made people feel better, he supposed.

After a few weeks, the swelling had gone down and her features had returned to the delicate, elven ways they were before. The dark purple bruises around her eyes and mouth had given way to splotches of green and yellow, the contrast between them and her milky skin much less drastic. She looked peaceful. If it weren't for the wires, and the intubation tube helping her breathe, she could have just been sleeping.

Every day he sat there, reading. But also listening. Her dreams became more of an escape than the universes in the books. Sure, 6 teenagers breaking into a supposedly impenetrable fortress to foil some government scheme involving a magic enhancing drug was great.

But she dreamed of him. She dreamed of everyone, Natsu breaking into her place, Happy winding her up, Erza giving her some lecture or another, her throwing Gray's pants at him after randomly stripping off. Again. Every day situations, tricking her brain into thinking she was okay. But when it was him, there was music. There was something deeper than her brain needing to believe everything was normal. It was flashes of walks in South Gate park or along the canal. It was tickle fights on her sofa. It was sharing a scarf when the first snow hit because she left hers at home. It was electricity, sparks dancing across her fingertips as she reached for him.

Her dreams drew him in. They were safe and warm in a clinical room that smelled of bleach and purell, with an aircon blasting constantly to keep the equipment cool.

And loathe as he was to admit it, he dreamed of her. Getting to her before Mard could do this to her. What would have happened had he never followed her. Those dreams always woke him with a start. But it was always the middle of the night. Whent he only company he had was Lucy, and the machines monitoring her breathing and blood pressure.

-

About a month after they returned, Cobra was sitting in his spot by the window. The sunset cast a golden light over the room, and everyone had gone for the evening. He and Porlyusica had nearly come to blows over him staying, before she saw how he genuinely felt. She wasn't happy about it, but it saved her from setting up 24 hour surveillance in case she did wake up.

He was flicking through a graphic book about a young girl training to be an assassin, when he heard her.

She was waking up. In her head, her conscious mind was over taking her subconscious. She was more aware that her dreams were just that, but not fully. Pain pricked all over her body, like a half finished paint by numbers. Her nose twitched and she screamed in her mind.

He was too startled to move right away, but he slid his chair next to her, holding her hand. He stared at her, for hours, willing her to open her beautiful brown eyes.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"You'll regret it." Cobra smiled as he flicked his woolly scarf around his neck.

"I'll be fine." Lucy laughed, pushing him out of her apartment.

Christmas was coming up, so she was dragging Cobra shopping with her. She wasn't quite sure what had made them this close, but she didn't hate it. In fact, she hadn't been this happy since...

She shook her head, she wouldn't think about the past. Besides, her and Bix were friends. And they weren't right for each other. Okay yes, some parts of their short relationship had been _mind blowing_ , but that didn't change the fact that they just didn't click on a deeper level, emotionally.

Outside, the sky was teaming with moody grey clouds, but Lucy still wasn't worried.

She wasn't worried as they went from store to store. Cobra rolling his eye as she umm'd and ahh'd over everything.

She still wasn't worried when they visited the pop up market that was in the town square every winter, and she bought them hot chocolates. She laughed when Cobra got cream on his nose, and squealed when he caught her off guard, wiping it off his nose, sticking his finger in her mouth as she laughed.

The walk back, she worried. The temperature dropped. She pulled her jacket up, but it wasn't enough as the first flurries of snow danced around them.

Cobra looked to her. "I told you."

She snorted. And shivered. "Shut u-up."

He laughed, a beautiful, real laugh, that Lucy had never heard. It warmed her more than her jacket. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his own coat, and draped his scarf around her neck.

They walked back to her place like that. Him holding her bags, her holding onto him as they strolled along the canal.

-

Lucy didn't remember going to bed. Or to sleep. Or getting up, dressed, washed, fed. But she was in the guildhall. Somehow. Having lunch with her team. Her friends. Erza was eating a strawberry cake, Natsu was wolfing down some spicy chicken thing Mira made, and Lucy was picking at a cheeseburger.

Something didn't feel quite right to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She shrugged, and picked up a forkful of her salad.

Happy and Carla were chatting contentedly on the table next to them. Lucy smiled. Natsu's little red cat really lived up to his name, anyone meeting him was always smiling.  
Natsu belched. He'd finished his steak.

"Gross." Lucy half chuckled, "You'll put Erza off her ice cream." _Ice cream?_ Lucy looked up again, where was her burger? Wasn't Natsu eating chicken? "Happy?"

"Yes, Lucy?"

"Why are you red?" Her head hurt. She felt like she'd been kicked in the mouth.

"Lucy?" Erza's voice drifted in from beside her.

Lucy couldn't focus, her vision was darkening. She stood but didn't get far before stumbling, and blacking out.

-

Lucy wretched. Pain shot through her face, her sides ached with the movement. She opened her eyes, panicking. She couldn't get a breath, she couldn't scream, something was in the way. She beat her fists on the bed she was lying on, eyes wide with fear.

Something thudded on the floor next to her, and suddenly, someone was holding her hand.

"Lucy?" _Cobra?_ "Yeah it's me, breathe through your nose. Okay?" He pushed her hair back from her face. She still couldn't get a breath. "Breathe out first," she did, still freaking out, but it worked, "now, in." He breathed in his own nose along with her. She did it a few more times, until she stopped shaking. "Good, I'll be right back, okay?" 

Lucy shook her head, _don't leave me_ , she pleaded, her eyes wide.

"I need to get Porlyusica, I'll be less than a minute."

Lucy nodded, then shut her eyes again, focusing on breathing through her nose.

When Cobra came in, Porlyusica was with him, pushing a medical cart. Lucy couldn't see much, other than it was all wrapped, so it was sterile. Except the small stack of cardboard bowls, which were handed to Cobra. He sat next to her, bowl in one hand, his other holding Lucy's.

Getting extubated was easily one of the worst things to ever happen to Lucy. She would honestly rather have salt poured in her eyeballs. Porlyusica talked her through it, first deflating a balloon holding her airway open, that wasn't too bad, it relieved some of the pressure in her chest.

But taking the tube out? They had to do it so slowly, so as not to damage her airway or throat, but the second it was past her lips, she leaned towards Cobra, throwing up. Nothing but bile came up, as he rubbed the top of her back, still holding the bowl.

When she was done, she had her bed and pillows adjusted so she could sit. Cobra was still with herm but when she tried to talk, she couldn't. Her throat was raw and felt like she'd swallowed a bowling ball.

"It's okay. We don't have to talk." He reassured her.

But she needed to know, _what happened?_ She looked at him, then herself, IV tubes still attached to both arms. One nutrients, one pain meds and liquid to keep her hydrated.

Cobra met her eyes, guilt and sadness filled them, "You don't remember?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even... It's getting there!!  
> I was listening to Diamonds in the Dark while writing this. Who are boss.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGublKmG0bo
> 
> Also, both intubation and extubation are HORRIFIC. Doctors won't intubate unless you're unconscious for whatever reason, and I needed it for a procedure a while back, I was sedated but f**kin WOKE UP while they were doing it and freaked. Awful day.  
> I've been intubated for surgery a couple times aswell, and it always feels like they've ripped my uvula afterwards, so I can never talk for a couple hours. And that's only after short surgeries. So Lucy's not gona be great really.


	19. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Cobra talk now that she's awake. He tells her some of what happened, but refuses to tell her the whole story.

Lucy shook her head. Last thing she remembered was heading up the stone stairs in the throne room. Then shopping in the snow? That couldn't be right.

Sitting, she had a better view of her room. The dying flowers in vases on every surface. Stacks of books taking up whatever space was left, a book on the floor. That must have been what thudded when she woke up earlier.

The light coming in through the window, it was late summer, she knew that much. Leaves on the tree outside were still a rich emerald green, but some had the sunset orange tint that signalled the start of fall.

Cobra laughed softly, looking at his hands, his thumb rubbing a leather band on his wrist.

"That was a dream." He told her, referring to the snow and the shopping.

He didn't want to tell her, he didn't want to be the one to bring what happened rushing back to her. He knew she remembered, anyway. Deep, deep down, she knew. He saw it in her dreams. The nights her heart rate monitor beeped just that little bit faster. Cobra felt the kicks, the air leaving his lungs, each bone as it snapped. The bite taken out of his tongue. He felt the cold, hard floor smash into his skull. And he'd wake up at that final blow.

Each time, it terrified him. And amazed him. That Lucy could still stand up to Mard. To come through all of that and still be alive.

And he would look over at her, her peaceful face. And wonder how anyone could have done that to her? How he could have ever done that to her. And his chest _ached._  
But, Lucy wanted to remember. He could hear that much.

So he told her, recounting her memories, telling her that she stood up to Mard, buying Loke and Gray time to get the kids out. To find a drugged up Wendy and Romeo, and get them back.

_So they're all safe?_

"Yeah."

 _Good._ She visibly relaxed, leaning into the pillows propped up behind her. But curiosity still danced in her eyes.

He'd skirted around he full story, avoiding the beating she got. Mostly because he didn't want to risk her having a panic attack, but also because he didn't want to relive that pain himself. Maybe it was selfish. But if it hurt _him_ to think about, how would it affect her?

 _Tell me why I'm here, Cobra._ Her eyes bore into him until he snapped. He wouldn't do this.

"I'm not going to be the one to ruin your life by reminding you of what happened. Memories get blocked for a reason." He snapped, standing. Before Lucy could react, he had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Lucy was taken aback by his outburst. Blinking, she tried to wrap her head around how he had gone from being comforting and gentle, to completely shutting her out.

Before she could think too deeply, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Gray, most of the guild had burst into her room. Some were crying, some were laughing. She couldn't tell who was talking, but everyone had something to say. How they were glad she was okay, how they hoped she'd be 100% better soon. Lucy was overwhelmed with emotion, and it wasn't long before Porlyusica was shooing them all out again.

And as she closed the door on a sleeping Lucy, she couldn't help but think that the ornery young dragon slayer's decision to not tell her everything, was the right one.

-

After another two weeks in the infirmary, Porlyusica let Lucy go home.

After three months of intense physio and speaking to a therapist, Rhys, once a week, she was discharged entirely from their care.

Lucy felt a sense of both relief and trepidation. Her life had taken on a comfortable routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, do what little exercise she could, see her team off at the guild hall, physio, food, sleep. With the exception of Tuesday afternoons where she would see the guilds resident therapist. She had made such good progress both in her physical therapy and counselling, that Porlyusica was considering discharging her early. Until Lucy protested, saying she wasn't ready.

Physically, Lucy had never been better.

Her upper body had healed really well, her flexibility had surpassed where it had been before she had left. But considering she only used to train a few days a week, compared to every day now, that wasn't shocking. The strength in her legs was phenomenal, from pushing herself with Taurus and Loke in combat training. Her nose had set slightly crooked, and there was a tiny scar across the bridge, but she barely noticed it.

But mentally, she was still struggling.

Trying to remember what had happened gave her headaches. Black spots in her memories plagued her. She pushed Cobra to the back of her mind, not able to face how they left things. He didn't come back to say goodbye before Crime Sorciere left. She just watched as their blue cloaks disappeared over the horizon. Lucy was still angry at the fact he wouldn't tell her how she came to be beaten black and blue, fighting for her life, but was starting to understand why. Almost.

She still tried to piece it all together but just couldn't. The whole experience seemed unreal. Like a nightmare. Remembering the floor falling from beneath them, Mard's cool, slippery voice, and even the panic attack she had, had her shaking and ready to break down again.

And this was all she could think about on the way into her last session with her therapist.

At the end, she asked "Rhys, do I have to stop coming?"

The dark haired young man smiled at her, "It's not part of your care plan any more, but that doesn't mean you have to _stop_ our sessions."  
Lucy sighed in relief.

"Do you think you would benefit from continuing to see me?"

She nodded. And it was settled, she would keep seeing him until she felt better. But with how she felt when she was on her own, she didn't know how long that would be.

-

After another month, Christmas and New year had passed. Lucy had done all her Christmas shopping on her own. Not quite feeling up to sharing the first snow with anyone. She got a new scarf, but it felt cold when she put it on. The barista where she got her hot chocolate told her to "cheer up" and she had to fight the burning need to kick him in the pants. Hard.

Her first job back was a relatively easy one, some Lord needed escorts for his prize winning dogs between Clover and Crocus.

It was boring, but it paid. And watching Natsu try not to throw up on their way back, made her feel... normal. She smiled as he groaned with the nausea. 

"It's not funny, luce." He whined, making Happy giggle into his paws.

"Is a bit." Lucy blushed, playing with a loose strand of hair.

"I've gotta say," Erza started from the seat across from Lucy, "it's nice to see you smiling. And relaxed. I'm glad you're better." Erza smiled herself, warm, loving.

-

Back at the guild hall, Team Natsu walked in, laughing at the fact Natsu was still green from the train ride. When Lucy started towards the bar, she looked up, and her heart stopped. By some miracle, she was able to maintain her smile and casual demeanour.

Because Crime Sorciere were back, and Cobra was at the bar.

"I- I need to go home." Lucy said to them all, "I stink and need to wash. I'll see you all later!" She waved, near running from the hall.

Once in the street, she did run. Grateful she'd decided on sweats and sneakers, because the snow was still coming down. Drifts had gathered up the edges of the wall bordering the canal, and she nearly slipped more than once. Outside her building, she had to grab a post t stop herself from skidding straight past when she stopped.

Lucy threw the door to her apartment open, stormed in, slammed the door again, and leaned on it. She took a couple deep breaths. In through her nose, counting up to seven. Out through her mouth, counting back down to one.

"What the hell." She started scolding herself while kicking her shoes off, "You need to get your shit together, Heartfilia."

Lucy couldn't understand just why seeing him made her like this. 

She shook herself out. "A bath will make me feel better." She reasoned, and locked herself in the bathroom.

Steam curled cleansing tendrils around her towel wrapped head. She always felt better submerged in hot water. She couldn't tell if her palms were sweating, and couldn't tell if her heart was pounding from the heat or nerves. And it always made her so sleepy.

Lucy decided to get out before she fell asleep and could add "accidentally drowning" to the list of ways she's nearly died. She quickly dried herself off and climbed into her bed.  
Checking the time, it was already 9pm. Natsu and the others would understand. They'd been travelling for three days pretty much straight. Of course all she'd want to do is go home and sleep. She'd be shocked if they hadn't already done the same.

Well, Erza at least. Not so much Natsu and Gray.

She yawned, turning out her light.

"And hopefully, Crime Sorciere will be gone by tomorrow." Lucy pulled her comforter up around her neck, and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than expected. NGL was hoping to have more done by now, but I don't. Life gets in the way.  
> Comments/kudos muchly appreciated as always. <3 <3 <3


	20. Denique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy feels more confident, and like she's ready to take on more challenging jobs with higher rates of pay.  
> But an encounter with a certain dragon slayer puts a spanner in the works.

"I never have any goddamn luck." Lucy muttered to herself striding towards the bar. She headed towards the opposite end to where Cobra was sat with Angel and Midnight, without even really paying that much attention to them, and ordered her milkshake.

She didn't have to wait long for her team to show up, and had never been more grateful than when Gray suggested they move to a proper table so they could order food and not have to eat it off the bar top.

When they'd all gotten their food, they began talking about new jobs.

"I feel like I can take something with a bit more confrontation now." Lucy told them all, proud of her progress.

"That's great Luce!" Natsu beamed.

"While I'm happy you're feeling more confident," Erza said, digging into her cake, "I don't want you to push yourself too hard, just yet."

Everyone nodded and mumbled agreements. Lucy smiled and shook her head.

"Erza," Lucy countered, "Sitting on a train with a crate of dogs isn't pushing myself, _at all_. I'm never going to be able to go back to real jobs if I don't start somewhere."  
They went back and forth for a little while, finishing their lunch, debating between them what would be good for all of them. Yeah they wanted to protect Lucy, but the big money was in the dangerous jobs.

"We'll figure something out." Wendy smiled at them all.

"Lucy, I don't mean to alarm you," Carla said from over head, "But Cobra is staring at you."

Lucy looked up from her fresh milkshake, "Wh-"

She was annoyed. His face was entirely blank, but his eye was definitely on her. She scowled and stood, bidding goodbye to her friends.

"Mira," Lucy called as the barmaid walked past, "Can I get this to go?" She said, holding out her milkshake glass.

"Sure thing, Lucy." Mirajane chirped, smiling.

-

 _Not that much attention?_ Cobra laughed internally. The blonde had opened the door and scowled straight at them. Then literally, stuck her chin in the air, and made a fucking point of ignoring them. _Whatever._ He went back to his conversation.

Natsu and the others showed up not long after she did, and they migrated from the bar to a table in the middle of the hall. It was hard to keep his eye off of her. Staying away from Magnolia helped him straightened out his head, but seeing her, in that skirt. It was like taking a huge step back. Not to mention, the amount she ate still amazed him. An entire cheeseburger, large fries and a sundae all disappeared without a trace. He couldn't believe it when she ordered another shake.

He didn't realise he was staring until she glared right back at him.

"I have to go guys. I'll see you later. We'll pick a new job."

Before she left, she got her milkshake in a to-go cup, then strode into the street. The open door let in the low mid afternoon winter light, temporarily turning her into a silhouette, lit from behind, then she was gone.

Cobra didn't even think. He stood and left mid conversation. The rest of Crime Sorciere stared after him briefly, before shrugging it off as him needing a cigarette. But none of them even realised, he hadn't smoked since before the whole Labyrinth incident.

-

It didn't take long to catch up to her. She ignored him as he matched her pace, walking step for step right next to her.

"So you're alive?"

Lucy stopped.

"Why are you here?" She asked, genuinely curious.

 

"Here in the street or here in Magnolia?" He smirked.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, she wasn't impressed.

"Blue balls was checking in with Titania." Cobra shrugged. He thought about whether or not to say the next part, but he took a chance and went ahead. "And honestly, I wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

"Look," She said around a mouthful of her strawberry shake, "Thanks for saving me, and whatever. But you don't have to stick around for my sake."

Cobra rolled his eye, walking away. He didn't have to take this crap. Why did he bother? Being near her made his blood boil and sing. It hurt his head. She made him want to scream for a thousand different reasons. Normally, she'd be calm, and happy to have a nice conversation with just about anyone. Why was _he_ different to her? He flat out refused to go back inside her soul. The place was nightmare fuel. A cross between a carnival and a loony bin.

Why was she different to him? Why was her head the only one he could willingly stay away from? He had a feeling he would never understand. So he walked.

"You still haven't told me just how I ended up in that state!" Lucy yelled, making him stop, but he didn't turn to face her.

Cobra span now, he lowered his face to hers, "I am not going to be the one responsible for you having a breakdown because of this. I need to leave." He turned again, stalking down the street.

"Hey!" She stomped towards him, he stopped.

"What!?" He growled, again not turning to face her.

" _I_ am the one who gets to decide what I need. Not you, dragon slayer." Lucy was angry, like steam coming out of her ears angry. How _dare_ he.  
He lifted his face to the sky, and drew a deep breath. Rounding once again on Lucy, backing her all the way up against a wall as he did.

"When you," He jabbed her shoulder "can hear and feel your own goddamn subconscious," his finger rested on her temple," _then_ you can talk to me about what you need." He looked at her. Really looked at her, saw the scar across her nose that sat a little further left than it used to and the guilt and rage built inside of him. His hands were resting both sides of her head. Like they did on that tree back in the Labyrinth. She was small, and defiant. Unwilling to back down. Determination not to be intimidated by him burned, a small inferno behind her eyes. Her mouth was set in a line that told him, if he fucked this up, she would let him know.

Because she wanted the same thing as him.

How could he be so fucking stupid.

Unspoken words mingled between them as the both huffed angry, heaving breaths.

Lucy licked her lower lip, pulling it ever so slightly into her mouth as she did. Her honey brown eyes dipped briefly before meeting his again.

And she leaned towards him.

His hands lowered, wrapping around her waist, holding her close as she melted into him, and he claimed her mouth with his own. A growl reverberated from deep inside his chest as her hands slid up to caress the back of his neck, then bunch her fingers in his hair. She dominated the kiss, her tongue demanding to be met by his. It deepened, hungry, insatiable. Desperate. Before it softened, her hands dropping from his hair to his jaw, his moving to her shoulders.

Lucy pulled away, her face flushed and glowing, her lips kiss swollen and smiling.

"Finally." She whispered, as though she had known this is what she wanted, _needed_ all along.

And Cobra pulled her back, because it _was_ what he needed.

-

Crime Sorciere had left that evening. But Lucy was starry eyed and goofy for at least a week. She hadn't told her team mates what had happened.

Hell, she didn't fully understand it. But she knew she didn't hate it.

Still, she wished she'd said something when she found herself stood outside the town hall on the way home one night. She squinted. Something next to the clock tower didn't look right. The stars were off, and one was shimmering and really bright.

She leaned to get a closer look. And then she was nothing but pain. Every inch of her being torn to shreds and reassembled.

She hit her head, but when she came too, she heard waves crashing far below her. Blades of grass were cold and sharp beneath her finger tips. She sat, slowly, pressing tentative fingers to her temple. She hissed when they made contact, but she wasn't bleeding.

Lucy looked around. The sky was far too blue, all the colours were preternaturally vivid. And she could hear singing. Eerie, beautiful voices sang an ethereal song. She crept to the cliffs edge. Women were sat in an alcove, their voices carrying out into the open ocean.

Lucy looked at their legs.

"Oh shit." She gasped. "Not again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH I FINISHED IT AND I DONT HATE IT.  
> Also, I'm turning this into a series of mental crossovers.  
> Just don't expect anything any time soon, sorry. I have A LOT going on right now.  
> I'll still be posting on my IG (not very often bc I'm poo like that.) so if you're interested?  
> @rhonas.a.reader  
> Put a face to the author and all that.


End file.
